The Love Within: A New Beginning
by NeverBeforeOrAgain
Summary: Violet and her friends head out, away from Mt. Frolic into the real world, escaping the Hunters. But for how long? Will never truly be safe from their grasp or must they run forever? Can this Violet and Chance stay together? Can Theresa win Jack's love, or be rejected? Who knows, Maybe we'll meet new friends to travel with. I DONT OWN POKEMON! Vulpix, Growltihe, Victini, Ponyta
1. Chapter 1

**THIS IS THE SQUEL TO THE LOVE WITHIN. BEFORE READING THIS, I SUGGEST YOU READ THE FIRST BOOK. THANK YOU, ENJOY!**

* * *

I look to the left, to see that Theresa was already struggling with her bag and we weren't even to the bottom of the mountain. _You'd think that since she'd been traveling ever since the age of 10, she would travel lightly. _I shook my head smiling, then turned to my head to the right. Chance an Jack were talking about going somewhere called Qurxoon Falls.

"Where's that?," I ask them, butting into the conversation.

"It's very far away, dear little Violet. Farther than your imagination has ever dared to take you," Jack responded, leaning down to me with a devilish grin, "Are you ready to go that far?"

I smile cockily," I was born ready!"

He laughed and straightened up, "Good, it'll be a long trip."

I linked tails with Chance and smiled, "I'm glad." He winked at me as we reached the base of the mountain. I started to turn right when Chance pulled me back.

"Where are you going?," he asked chuckling.

"Oh.. Well, I thought we weren't going in this way," I say trying to defend my actions," This is the way we came in last time."

"Exactly," he replied.

I looked at him puzzled," Why would we come in this way? Won't the hunters be in this area still?"

"Nope," Jack jumped in," They will assume we will do what you had previously thought, to go in a different way. They will be expecting us to go somewhere different, so we will go in the same way. One step ahead," he said confidently.

"Wow, that's a good idea," Theresa spoke up, "who thought of that?"

"Me," said Jack trotting forward into the brush, Chance went with him, to scout out the trail.

"Woah," Theresa whispered to me," he is smart, too. God, he's hot!"

"Tone it down there, cowgirl. We aren't even into the Forrest yet," I whisper back.

"Okay, fine! I just can't help it," she giggled into her paw. I rolled my eyes, hiked my bag up higher and continued into the woods.

"Wait!," Theresa called, running up to me," How should I play this, Vi? Should I be the quiet, shy girl? Or the-"

I scoff," As if, you couldn't be quiet or shy if your life depended on it and I think Jack knows it."

"Urg, you're right. I guess I'll be the cute, innocent girl, who laughs at everything he says. Or I could be the hot, tamale that is so sexy, he begins to want me, then..."

"Theresa!," I stop and turn so were face to face," If you have to pretend to be somebody else, maybe it's not meant to be, you know? You should be yourself and if he isn't into that, then he isn't for you."

"She looked shocked and embarrassed," I use these routines all the time, Violet." She brushes past me, so I jog to catch up to her, and she continues," and they have all been 100% effective," she huffed at me.

I rolled my eyes again," Yeah, but for how long, Theresa? Maybe of you were just yourself, you could have a real meaningful relationship," I try to convince her.

She turned to me," Just you wait, he'll fall head over heals in love with me. ALL OF ME!," with that she ran ahead, past Chance, to walk by Jack. She started to chatter away at him and I knew he was not liking any bit of it. Chance peered back at me, once Theresa had ran past, and looked at me questionably, I shrugged in response. He stopped to wait for me and we walked together.

"What was that about?"

"Uhm, you know. Girl stuff," I tell him. He just give me a look, telling me is totally unconvinced. I in hale a deep breath," Well... you know. She like Jack, and I tried to tell her to be herself... but she doesn't think it'll help her."

"I don't think anything would help her," he mumbled and I nudged him in the ribs. He grabbed them dramatically," Ow! You're so abusive."

"Shut up," I laugh, leaning into him as we walk," Do you remember taking this trail?"

"How could I forget?," HE rests his head on mine as we walk," That night was perfect." I take me head away from his chest and look at him likes he's crazy. "Well, It was perfect up to a point," he smiles.

"Yeah, it was. I wouldn't change it though," I tell him.

"Me either," he licks my cheek, I just smile and enjoy his company. The early morning is dark and beautiful, not too hot and slight breeze that blows through the trees. The moon is hidden behind the tree tops and shinning through certain spots on the trail. I hope everyday can be like this. _No stress. No hunters. No problems. Just us._

I hear a rustle in the bush nest to us and my ears perk up instantly. I feel Chance stiffen next to me and we slow our pace to a halt. The rustle comes again and Chance moves me behind him and I hear him growl in the back of his throat, daring something to jump from the bush. Nothing does. He stands there a moment longer before he relaxes his muscles, and turns back to me.

We start to walk on when a voice booms from the trees," I see that you have returned."

Chance jumps and guards me again, snarling and barking at the treeline viciously. Jack hears Chance's attack mode has been activated from down the trail, and comes galloping towards us with Theresa sprinting next to him.

"Silence your dog, girl. He annoys me," the old milky voice says in sharp abrupt tone.

"Chance, Stop," I tell him. _That voice? Where did I know it?_ Chance whimpers and turns back to me, waiting for me to explain, so do Jack and Theresa.

"Thank you. Mhmmm. I see that my advice was quite helpful, was it not?," the voice is quieter and less threatening. _THAT VOICE?! It was the voice that had spoken to me while I was running from the Hunters._ I remembered her terrible temper. _Better be nice_, I thought.

"Y-Y-Yes... Yes it was ma'am. I can't thank you enough," I saw bowing slightly. I can't help but feel ridiculous._ There isn't even anything to bow to? Your are being nice to a voice, Violet? You look insane. Why are you bowing?! It's not like she's royalty._

"Ahhhh, I see your manners have very much improve since our previous encounter," she says pleased. "Oh... I see you have brought some new friends with you as well. One of them is the boy who was caught, which one is he?"

"Thank you, ma'am," I stand up and go sit by Chance," This is Chance, the boy who was captured."

"Very good," she cackled giddily," I'm happy that you could save him... for now."

"Wait! What do you mean for now?," I beg her to tell me.

"It's too clouded...," she mumbled to herself.

"Excuse me," Theresa interrupted," Just exactly, Who are you?," she said in a rude, obnoxious tone.

"Who am I?," the old voice responds," Who am I? I am wondering the same of you, small Victini! Who are you to question me, Theresa?!," she bellows, making the trees shake.

Theresa cowered, shaking violently, she swallowed the lump in her throat," How do you know my name?," she squeaked terrified.

"Theresa the Victini, why do you care to know who I am? I know you because unlike you, I'm not blind to the furute," the voice continues in her angry tone, talking to me," You keep extremely rude company, Vulpix."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Sometimes my friend can speak before thinking," I explain.

"No-," Theresa tried to defend herself, but Jack covered her mouth, muffling her words. She struggled against him, thrashing wildly, but he remained calm and in control. She stopped flailing and relaxed against him, looking up at him with big dreamy eyes.

"How rude to just interrupt," the voice grumbled to herself.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But what did you mean, I'd saved Chance for now?," I asked desperately.

"I can't see it, girl. My vision is gone, because of your _friend _distracting me," she said," The only way to know for sure now, would be to take a reading."

"Can we take a reading, please ma'am," I ask taking a step towards the trees.

"Readings can be tricky, young Vulpix. Once I tell you your future, you will always know. It will not change. There is no going back. Can you handle that kind of knowledge," she asks. I looked to Chance then Jack and Theresa. Jack gave me a sharp nod, he wanted to do it.

I turn to Chance again," Chance..."

"Yes, I want to know," he says to me. "Please, miss, will you read my future?," he said loudly to the trees, his voice shaking slightly.

"If you so desire, young Growlithe. I will do so," and the bushes rustled again. A figure stood up in the shadow's of the trees and approached us, gliding over the bushes gracefully.


	2. Chapter 2

The pokemon behind the mysterious voice finally revealed itself, she was a Gardevoir. She glide gracefully towards Chance her white train flowing behind her, her ruby red eyes never looked away from him. _Of course! Now it makes a since. Gardevoir is one of the psychic pokemon that has the ability Future Sight. Okay, now it makes since how she knew about saving my village._

"Relax your mind," she spoke softly to Chance, snapping me from my daze," Close your eyes and relax." She put her forehead against Chance's and place her hands on either side of his head, concentrating. In that moment they looked slightly like lovers and t made my blood boil, but I repressed it, taking deep breaths.

"Mhmm," she said, pulling her head from Chance's. He collapsed and started breathing heavily, I ran to his side quickly.

"Are you alright?," I ask pulling him to his feet, checking for injuries.

"Yeah, It's just...Woah. Rush of pain," he chuckled still dazed.

"Mhmm," the Gardevoir repeated.

"What? What is it?," I asked curiously, turning so we could face her.

"It is not your future to hear, Vulpix. Growltihe," she addressed him," Do you wish to hear it in private or may I speak freely?"

"Go ahead...," he was still out of breath," Speak freely."

She closed her eyes and spoke," I see great happiness in your future, Growlithe. Laughing, smiling, good memories. I also see a brilliant love in your future...Ahhh, you are in love now, are you not?"

Chance placed his paw on mine," Yes, yes I am," he spoke smiling down at me. I blushed and nuzzled into his thick fluffy chest, still with one limb wrapped around him, supporting him.

"But, wait! Wait, I see... I see that this love in new and weak. Yes. It may not last, the journey you are following, it may falter and die." I gasped, shocked that that was even a possibility. What I felt for Chance was so real and alive, I could never imagine it dying and ending. I made my heart ache just thinking about it,

Gardevoir opened one eye and looked at me, telling me to remain silent. She continued,"I can also see happier side, where your love lasts through the ages, but it will take tremendous effort on both your parts to get there."

I look up at Chance, terrified and he looked down to me nervously. Before he could reassure me, the Gardevoir carried on with her reading, placing her fingers on her head,"Ahh, now I see it. I see you leaving. I see you leaving your friends, maybe not be your own choosing, but leaving nonetheless." She opened her eyes and gazed down on us, looking sadly sympathetic. " I hope that you can handle your future," she curtsies politely," As well as you handled your past."

Chance looks to me, then Jack, then back to me petrified and confused, to scared to speak. He swallows the lump in his throat," Thank you, miss. Thank you for reading my future... and my past?"

She nods her head respectfully," When you wish to look forward, you must also look back."

Chance nods slowly, considering it. "Since I have grown found of your Vulpix, I will read another future," she smiles, looking around at the group. I imagined her smile to be icy and cruel, but it was genuine and sweet. It brightened up the trail and made me feel happy inside.

"Me! Me, me, me! Oh, Please, Me!," Theresa pounced forward. "Please, if you would be so kind, Garedevoir as to read my future," Theresa knelled in front of her.

Gardevoir looked at her, considering it. "Is it okay with you, dear Vulpix?," she turned to me, waiting for my response.

_Me? Me? Why does it matter if I care? The other day, I was just a stupid girl to you... Why do I matter now? I don't control you. It your gift, you do as you please. _"Uhmm.. I don't mind..?"

"Okay then," she turned back to Theresa," Stand, Victini." Theresa jumped up like a rocket, probably not wanting to upset the Gardevoir again. Theresa was shaking slightly, terrified to be so close to her. "Be still," she whispered and placed her head on Theresa's. They stayed that way fro a moment, nobody moved, I didn't even breath until Gardevoir pulled away. Theresa opened her eyes and I let out my breath, her blue eyes were bulging with pain and fear and she, just like Chance, fell to the ground. I went over to her, to make sure she was okay.

"Theresa, are you all right?"

"It hurts... it hurts a lot," she whispered. I tried to help her stand, but she fell again, so I placed her sit on my back carefully. "What... What is my future?," she asked barely audible.

"Do I speak freely as I did before?," Gardevoir asked, her back turned to us.

"Yes," Theresa mumbled into my fur.

"In your future, little Victini, I see suffering. I see massive amounts of pain, that have to be endured physically and mentally. It may push you over the edge, so trust in your friend," she nodded to me," She will help with the pain. On the bright side, I see love," Gardevoir made a unrecognizable face," I believe it's love. It's very cloudy, I'm uncertain. Some more good news, I see you meeting with a loved one for the first time. I see one more bad news, betrayal. Someone close to you will betray you, my dear. It will be on a massive scale, completely unforgivable, so be careful," with that she opened her eyes and smiled again. It was so beautiful and perfect, it made me jealous.

She turned to me,"I hope that you will return, little Vulpix. I have grown found of you and hope you don't end in dismay, before coming to visit again."

"Why have frown found of me?," I ask confused.

"I don't quite know yet..." she said in a whimsical way, like it didn't matter, all she needed to know was that she liked me and that was enough.

"I'll try and come visit, okay?"

"Good. I wish to see you soon, dear one. Forgive me for our first encounter, I did not mean to be so cruel." _I can't believe it.. She is asking for my forgiveness? From me? What is happening?_

I smile at her, genuinely happy," It is all forgotten."

She grasped my paws in her hands," I am overjoyed." She peered into my eyes with her deep ruby iris'. I thought that maybe she was trying to read me, like she had done the others, but all she did was smile, then turn away. She glided back into the Forrest until she had completely dispersed, and never glanced back once.

After Gardevoir had gone, nobody moved. The sun started to peek over the horizon when Jack broke the silence, "Wow. What a way to start the day, huh Chance?"

"Yeah," Chance spoke unenthusiasticly," Great way to start the day."

"Well...," Jack swayed impatiently, " Let's get moving. We have stayed here to long."

"I'm so tired," Theresa said nuzzling into my back, closing her eyes.

I looked up at Jack, "I can't carry her." He rolled his eyes and knelled down so Chance and I could transfer her to his back. He stood up slowly, so Theresa wouldn't fall.

"I doubt I'll be able to walk at a normal pace with her laying on my back. If she was sitting, it would be fine, but like this, she could fall at any time," he told us unhappily.

"I don't think I'll be making a normal pace either, bud. Her doing that thing, really drains your energy," Chance said picking up Theresa's bag.

"I told you we shouldn't have brought her, look, it's not even the first day and she is already dead weight. LITERALLY!," he complained.

"Stop your whining," I tell him. "We have a long way to go, yes? So let's saddle up get moving," I brush past him, walking down the trail. I turn back to see Chance and Jack staring at each other in a shocked state. "Well... Are you we going or not?" They snapped out of it and Chance grabbed the bag while Jack started to follow me down the trail.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun rose as the day passed on, but we didn't stop unless it was to take a water break. We kept moving forward, and the whole time all I could remember was my date with Chance. I saw all the trees and herbs he mentioned and we even passed the cave of Moon Violets. Even with Theresa asleep on his back, Jack pressed on, never stopping. When she finally awoke from her nap at around noon, Jack happily kicked her off his back and we continued walking at a faster pace. Theresa, still in her drowsy sleepy state, walked over to me and started chattering away about what the Gardevoir had said.

"When she said there was love in my future, I could have died! I just know that she is talking about," she looked ahead, then whispered," Jack I mean come one! Who else is there?," she smiled triumphantly.

"Theresa," I saw in a low gentle voice," She also said you were going to suffer tremendously and the unforgivable betrayal... Doesn't that worry you?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm trying not to dwell on the bad," she said casually, running her paw through the bush next to us," I want to focus on the good parts, like the love! Besides," she nudged me playfully," I also have you to lean on."

I smile," Of course you do!"

Just then, she leaned in and whispered in my ear," So, did you talk about Chance's future yet?"

I tensed up a little bit, then looked ahead at the boys. They were laughing about something and Chance looked so content and joyful. Like he didn't hear that he was going to leave us, or that our love my not last. I looked down at the trail, holding in the tears, No," I managed to say," No we haven't."

Theresa put her limb around my back, rubbing my fur to soothe me," It's okay," she said to me lifting my chin with her other paw," He probably doesn't want to ruin the first day of travel. It's understandable, right? I mean, If you fight now, he probably thinks you'll go running back home."

My head perked up, _Oh, I guess so. I never though about it like that. _"Maybe you're right, Theresa. He'll probably talk to me tomorrow," I smile sadly.

"Of course he will," she said patting my back one last time before taking her paw away," And if he doesn't, then you bring it up. You guys definitely can't let this just hang in the air. You need to discuss it thoroughly and adult like. No screaming and running off.," she told me sternly.

I chuckle halfheartedly," Since when did you become a love expert?"

"Oh, sweetie. I've always been a love expert, this is just your first time needing my advice," she smile brilliantly. We both laughed, then jogged a ways to catch up to the boys.

It was late in the afternoon when Chance suggested a break, Jack agreed and we all collapsed onto the Forrest floor, grateful for the rest. Chance army crawled over to me," How you doing there, stranger?," he said grinning, like it was the cleverest thing in the world to say. I snorted a laugh, then looked at him. He seemed to be happy, his eyes were their normal dark hazel with honey swirls and green rims. He had his tongue hanging from his mouth, dripping with saliva and sweat, but he seemed to be genuinely happy.

"I'm doing good. How about you?," I ask politely, trying to choose my words carefully.

"I'm pretty good," he replied, nodding his head, confirming his mood. " You've been awful quiet today, something on your mind?," her peered down at me with his brown eyes clouding with concern.

"No," I say sarcastically. "Everything's fine, nothing life changing happened today," my voice was rising," It's not like a sorceress told you that you're going to abandon us and stop loving me!," I spoke loudly. Theresa turned to us and shook her head frantically, signaling that this was not talking it through like adults. I sighed deeply and turned away from him, looking at the trees. They were starting to look different, not like the tall Oak and Pines that surrounded my mountain. No, these trees were smaller and their bark was a pale white, while their leaves were a contrasting bright green. I looked at all of them one by one, observing them curiously, when a squirrel skittering caught my attention. It flew gracefully between these trees, his bushy almond colored tail followed him. I smiled, he was just a careless squirrel, he didn't care about us or our problems. This squirrel had his own agenda and was busy with his own little life, to busy to notice us.

"Violet..." Chance spoke in a soft, forgiving tone. I turned my head back to him and he spoke gently," Today... with the Gardevoir... it's a lot to take in, I know. But, if I dwell on it, then it will overcome me. I will be just a shell, always worried and never taking my normal risks," I turned away again, but he grabbed my chin with his paw and made me face him. "I love you, Violet. I want to be with you. It would take a lot of something bad for me to denounce those feelings, okay?," he said lowering his head to mine.

"Okay," I say barely above a whisper.

"Hey, just remember that she said we could make it, it will just take a lot of work. I would do anything to keep our love connected, there isn't a thing on this planet that could stop me, Violet, how about you?"

"Hell no!," I state, my voice squeaking slightly. "I guess, we just need to be positive..." Chance nods and I continue," Plus, she said you do have a lot of good memories ahead, so there's a bonus."

"Of course I have great memories ahead, I'll be spending everyday with you," with that he licked my cheek and I yelped at the surprise. "Besides, what could go wrong? It's just me and you... well and the others," he said absent mindedly.

I laughed a real laugh, the first one of the day," Chance, you make me happy," I tell him.

He laughed too," Violet, you make me the happiest pokemon that has ever lived," he spoke confidently, then toke serious turn," And I don't ever want that to change."

"Not a chance," I whisper into his ear and nuzzle into his chest. He wraps his paws around me and kisses my forehead, we cuddle like this until Jack announces it's time to move out.

"Wow, he is like a colonel in the army," I whisper to Chance.

"Tell me about," Chance says out of half his mouth, and we both laugh and stand up, ready to continue on our way.

The sun was now starting to sink, signalling that the day was coming to an end. The wind picked up, causing me to shiver and me teeth to chatter loudly. Clouds rolled in from the east, rumbling with thunder and crashing with lightening. A light sprinkle started to fall, making the wind seem even more vicious.

"We keep moving," Jack called from the front," Until we can find suitable shelter!"

I could barely hear him, the wind was so howling ferociously, whipping at me with its icy touch. I wrap my limbs around myself and march forward, _Just keep moving,Violet. If you keep moving, it'll keep you warm!_ Just then the wind whipped me again, causing my hair to stand on end and my legs to wobble._ Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving!_, I told myself over and over, hoping that I wouldn't freeze on the spot. The rain picked up into a full fledged storm, with the thunder crashing every few seconds. I look back to see if Theresa wanted to walk together to keep warm, but I couldn't see her. The rain was now pouring sideways, I couldn't see but a few inches in front of my face, my fur was drenched and starting to get to effect me. _So much for warm,_ I thought in dismay.

"THERESA!," I shout over the storm, but receive no answer,"THERESA!"

I turn back to the boys, but can no longer see them either. The rain was relentless and cold, chilling me to the bone. _I can't stay out on this... I'll die. It'll kill us all, we are all fire types._ I look around to find a shelter but, all I could see was rain. No trees, no bushes, no help. Just rain.


	4. Chapter 4

"HELLO!?," I shout against the icy wind,"CHANCE? JACK? ANYBODY!"

_I have to keep moving, or else I'll freeze. Keep moving, One step in front of the other, there you go. Again! Again! Again!,_ I mentally coached myself to keep stepping. The rain was starting to freeze to fur and to the ground making it very slippery, even worse, I was going uphill.

"THERESA!? CHANCE?! Jack!," My voice was fading, no one could hear me through the storm. It was hopeless. Not even a day into this adventure and I was going to die of frostbite. _Dad is never wrong_, I thought bitterly. The wind picked up and blew so hard, I slipped on the ice and fell backwards, tumbling down the hill. I hit rocks and trees, that I didn't even know where there while I had been climbing. Once I rolled to a top at the base of the hill, I didn't move. _What's the point?_, I thought as the rain pounded against my back, making me shiver and squirm. _I won't survive this...VIOLET! Pull yourself together, _my conscience spoke to me. _What about Chance? You can't give up on him! GET UP AND KEEP GOING!_

I tried to stand but I slipped on more ice, slamming into the ground again. Everything hurt, my back, my legs, my head. The rain was making it hard to breath, it was sucking the life from me, slowly but surely. There is _GET UP! GET UP!, _My conscience screamed to me. Wasn't it? No, someone was yelling at me through the storm...or was hallucinating.

"GET UP! GET UP!," A voice carried through the trees. I opened my eyes, but there was no one there. "GET UP!," A figure appears in front of me and bites me by the nape of my neck... hard. It hurts, especially when it starts to pull me upward, I moan with discomfort. His teeth were sinking into my skin, making the ache from my body seem less important.

"Chance"," I tried to turn but couldn't, my neck screamed with pain. "Chance!" He drops me and I fall onto the cold hard ground again, to weak to stand.

Chance bites my neck again, probably drawing blood and it sent signals of pain to my brain, as lifted me up as high as he could. My tails were drenched and too heavy to carry, so they dragged on the ground. Chance put me on his back, as soon as he did, I nuzzled into him and held on as he ran through the storm. He never slowed down or stopped even when the wind blew against him. The wind bite at me with its cold jaw, absorbing my life. I could feel myself slipping, not from Chance's back, but from reality. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for it all, there was not point in fighting.

Chance leaped over a tree on the trail, but luckily, I stayed on his back. Even though his fur was wet, it was still kind of spikey, and it was less fluffy than what I remember.

"Chance," I mumble into his fur," I love you..."

Chance doesn't stop running, he doesn't respond, either. I didn't raise me head to check, I couldn't even keep my eyes open. I rain was still falling heavily on us, when he took a sharp right, causing me to waver and grasp him tightly.

"Hang on," a gruff voice floated over the wind.

Chance pounced up, over whatever he was jumping, I struggled to hang on to his soaked body. "I'm slipping!," I yell, feeling my paws sliding through his wet fur. I dug my claws into his skin, feeling him flinch and tense from the shock.

"We're almost there," he replied. With one last jump, he landed and I no longer felt the rain on me. I opened one eye and saw I was in a dark room with rock walls. "Rest," he told me as he dropped me onto the floor next to a roasting fire. _Ow! Could you be more gentle? _ The fire felt amazing though, better than anything I had ever felt before. I cuddled up to it and rested my head on the floor, my eye lids to heavy to keep open.

"Thank you Chance," I whisper as I drifted off to sleep, while voices in the distance droned on into the night.

The next say I woke up with the sun streaming in on my face. I squinted and rolled away from its brilliant light, my back running into something soft and furry. _Chance._ I snuggled into it and yawned, opening my eyes. I stretch my legs, but pain courses through them, so I stop and yelp. The body beside me stirs and shifts, sitting up and yawning.

"Chance, I think I broke my leg."

"Actually, you broke your ankle," a deep sultry voice responds. A voice I had never heard before.

My eyes open, suddenly I am fully awake, and I turn my head slowly to the person beside me. Laying beside me is a black and gray dog, with eyes redder than the flames of hell. I whimpered with fear and tried to edge away, but my ankle throbbed terribly. The dog smiled flashing his fangs at me, but not in a threatening way. I couldn't help but be scared, he was a total stranger that I had...cuddled up to?! _EW! How did I get here?!_

"Who are you? What do you want? How did I get here?," I look around the cave trying to pinpoint my location.

"I am Nokto," he said while stretching out," You got here, because I rescued you. You're welcome by the way. And what I really want is a ham sandwich," he spoke placing his head in his paw.

"Nokto?..." his name was truly beautiful in a deep ancient kind of way. I glanced at him, he was staring at me._ He didn't seem very threatening and he DID rescue you_, so I relaxed... not all the way, but some. "Why did you rescue me?," I ask him, not moving.

"I was out in the woods doing patrols and there you were, so I told you to 'get up and get away' ya know? From our land. But you didn't move, I thought your were dead until you spoke," He licked his paw. He had some massive claws, that were sharp and long, they made me uneasy. " I'm not heartless enough to leave a dying girl in the rain," he said matter of factly.

"What do you mean 'our land'?," I ask curiously. _Are there more?_

"Well, my pack, duh," he said like I was stupid child. I growled in my throat. "No use in doing that," he said standing," You can't fight, you can't even stand. Why don't your turn off your high and mighty thinking and start being a little grateful, huh?," he walked to the mouth of the cave.

_Maybe he is right...He did rescue me from death. But he also is a complete stranger... Mhmmm. I should be polite, but nothing_ _more. He is still a little odd, for all I know he could be a murderer_. "Thank you," I called out to him, he turned back," for saving me," I finish looking to the floor embarrassed and unable to meet his sinical eyes.

"Well, well, well, look who is being nice all the sudden," he trotted back into the cave with a smug smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Stop smiling like that," I snap at him," You look ridiculous," I grumble.

"Ahh, there's the real you. There is no hiding it, Vulpix. You are feisty, crazy, little fox, aren't you? Running around in the rain, without a care in the world. Did you have a death wish?," he sat in the far corner near the entrance glaring at me. His bright red eyes made it feel like the devil himself was looking at me.

I look at the walls, instead of him,"Violet," I tell him. I glance back and see his head cocked to the right and his eyebrows bushed together. I roll my eyes," My name is Violet, duh," I repeat his childish tone. "And no, I did not have a death wish for your information. I was just... I was just lost."

He smirks again, straightening his head and staring me down again," That explains your eyes. At least your not all bad, I'm glad I didn't rescue some high maintenance priss," and with that he jumped up and left the cave.

"WAIT," I called after him,trying to stand and follow, but collapsing on the hard ground from the pain in my ankle. He popped his head back into view," Oh, yeah. I'll be back later," and he dodged out of sight again.

I didn't move my ankle was in so much agony, it was unbearable. I closed my eyes and tried to think happy thoughts. _Happy thoughts? Happy thoughts? Chance._ That was all I needed to smile and forget the pain. _Wait?,_ I open my eyes. _Chance. Jack. Theresa. _I sit up quickly, way too quickly, my ankle starts to throb again, but I press it to the back of my mind. _Where are they? _


	5. Chapter 5

I spent the whole day screaming at the top of my lungs for Chance. I even screamed for Jack and Theresa, but no one came. No one heard my cries for help, and if anyone did, they didn't come to help me. I didn't stop, I kept on pleading for anyone to come and help me, at one point I even screamed for Nokto. I was in pain and alone, I just wanted to be comforted and helped, but it didn't come. The sun was high in the sky before Nokto returned, strolling up to the cave casually with a bowl on his head.

"Hello, and how are you feeling this fine day," he asked pleasantly placing the bowl on the floor.

"Nokto, I need to leave. I can't stay here! My friends are probably worried about me! I need to find them," I begged him.

"So I see you have a lot of energy, you're most likely dehydrated. I brought you some water," he pushes the bowl to me.

"No, Nokto! I need to find them!," I push the bowl aside.

"Why? These friends of yours don't sound so great to me," he said sitting in the same spot he did yesterday, by the cave's entrance.

"How would you know?," I spat across the room," You don't know them at all!"

"Really?," he said," I may not know much about friendship, but I don't abandon my friends in a rain storm, especially if they are fire types," he stood up growling.

"That's not how it happened," I lowered my voice.

"How did it happen then," Nokto asked, still unconvinced.

"It was raining hard, you know that. We just got separated, it's nobodies fault. I'm sure that they are looking for me," I spoke assuring myself.

"Are they Vulpix," he asked walking to me.

"No, one is Ponyta, one is a Growlithe and the other is Victini,"I tell him.

"Odd pack you got there, Vulpix," he smiled. "They are all fire types, so they most likely ran for their own shelter, leaving out in the down pour. You deserve better than that, Vulpix. Everyone does."

"Stop calling me that!," I shake with rage. "My name is Violet. I told you this! I am not some wild animal, you...you stupid dog. If I knew what you were I wouldn't use your name either," I shout at him, with my eyes closed.

When I open them, he laying in front of me like a cat, ready to pounce. " You don't know what I am?," he asked offended.

"No..," I was exhausted, I had been yelling all day, I wanted to eat and rest.

"Mhmm. For your information I am a Mightyena, and I am not ashamed of what I am so feel free to address me by my type," he glare a tme with his red eyes burning.

"Ill just stick with Nokto," I retort snarkly,"It's shorter."

"My mother is outside, _Vulpix," _he said standing up, looking down on me. "I want to bring her in so she can dress your wounds, will you be civil?"

I roll my eyes," Of course I will," I snapped at him.

"I am not convinced," he lowered his head to mine.

"That's because you irritate me!" Nokto smirked and barked loud and clear, it rang off the walls. A slightly larger Mightyena entered the cave, with a wicker basket it's mouth. She looked just like Nokto, the red eyes and everything, it was scary. She walked to me and placed the basket it on the floor and smiled, she didn't speak, she went straight to work.

"Thank you," I say to her, while she runs me down with a cloth, she doesn't look up. I glance to Nokto," Does she hate me already?," I ask him. He throws he head back and laughs, ringing through the room, his mother looks up and speaks. She speaks in an odd language I have never heard before, with jutting and jerking syllables. Nokto responds to her in the language and I just listen to it, unaware of what they are saying. His mother nods and returns to rubbing me down.

"My mother," Nokto tells me," Doesn't speak pokemon."

"What do you mean she doesn't speak pokemon?! She** IS** a pokemon," I interject.

"She is, but she wasn't raised with it. She was raised by our tribe, our pack, and she was taught by her mother in the language of her people. She has never learned traditional pokemon," he explains.

"What is the language you speak then?," I ask, wincing as she applies alcohol to my cuts.

"We don't have a name for it. It's just our language. And to answer your question, No. My mother doesn't hate you," he smiles showing his fangs again. I shudder at the sight of them, they are creepy and scare me.

"How did you learn pokemon," I ask threw gritted teeth.

"We have a member who left when he was young, learned it and returned to teach us, now all children learn traditional pokemon as well as our native tongue," he tells me before his mother speaks again. They way she speaks is so beautiful and dark all at once, like a witch placing a spell on something.

"My mother says we need to put your ankle back into place before putting the cast on. It is broken and had popped out of place. This will be more painful than anything you can imagine, Violet," he speaks sincerely," Brace yourself. Grab my paw if you need to," he offers his paw and turns away, not wanting to watch his mother place my mangled foot back into place.

I fell Nokto's mother hold my ankle very gently, but it still hurt, I reached out and grabbed Nokto's paw for support. I take a deep breath,"GO!," I shout. Nokto relays the message and I hear a snap and my foot feels like it's been torn off. I scream with agony and squeeze Nokto's paw for dear life. I gasp for air, and feel her move my ankle again, sending the pain shooting up my leg. I scream again and squeeze Nokto's paw again, with even more force. I continue to scream loudly, It was all I could do to deal with the pain. I see dots in my vision and then it all fades to black.

This time when I awake, I'm not in a cave. I'm in a small room, with a lot of medical equipment around. They weren't shining like they should have been, they weren't made from metal. Half of the stuff was made from wood and the other have looked like teeth and claws. Most of it had dried blood on it from the last operation. _Was I the last Operation?_ I sat up and screamed in horror from what I was seeing. It was like a scary movie, I continued to scream as I ripped of the while blanket on top of me. I check for any signs of cuts, or scars, but all I saw was the cast on my gave me no relief, I continued on screaming until several Mightyena's came into the room. They looked like demons in he night, trying to kill me, so I started to thrash wildly to escape them. I felt a sharp pain in my leg for second, then it was gone. I looked down and saw that I had been injected, which only made my fear 10 times more real. Against all odds, yelled even louder until blackness enclosed my vision.

The second time I awoke in the room, I tried to get up but I had straps wrapped around my legs and torso. _What the hell? _I laid my head back and sighed_, How am I gonna get out of here?_

"I see you're awake," I deep familiar voice fills the air.

"Nokto? Is that you," I raise my head and look around the room.

Sure enough, there he is leaning against doorway, he flashed me his vampire smile. "Of course. Who else is brave enough to enter the room of the crazy fox?," he pushes from the door and comes to the bed.

"Is that really what your people are calling me?," I groan resting my head back on it's pillow.

He laughed," Yes, you caused quite some excitement. We all thought you were being murdered in here, but no, you were just screaming," he smirked confidently.

"Ugh, stop smiling like that, you look ridiculous," I grumble at him.

He laughs again," Are you going to keep being rude, or will you be nice and I'll undo your restraints."

I roll my eyes," Please, Nokto!"

He undoes my restraints and I sit up and try to jump off the table, but Nokto jumps in front of me, so I can't. "What are you doing," I snap at him.

"Did you forget? You have a broken ankle?," we both glance down at my cast.

_Shit! I did. _"No, I remembered," I tell him easing myself off the bed carefully, while pushing Nokto away.

"Follow me," Nokto says nodding his head towards the door," I have some people very anxious to meet you."

I limp after him eagerly, being careful of my cast, thrilled to be leaving the odd torture room behind.


	6. Chapter 6

I stepped through the doorway and a whole group of Mightyena were there. Staring at me. I froze, petrified of all the glowing red eyes and fangs in front of me. All of them looked alike, sitting straight and no one smiled. It almost looked like a creepy family portrait, expect for some Poochyena pups in the front that were smiling and wrestling.

"Nokto.." I whimper. All eyes turn to him, and he grins. He speaks to them in his native language, some of the Mightyena turn back to me, one of then licked their lips. I let out another small whimper," What is happening?"

Nokto turned to me," This is my family, Violet. They wanted to meet you, well technically they wanted to meet the new girl who has he whole pack gossiping, but same thing," he winked.

I swallowed my fear,"Why do they all look...hungry?," I whisper cowering behind him, afraid of all of them.

He chuckled," Don't be so naive, Vulpix, you have too much fur," he whispered then spoke up," You've met my mom," he walks to the line of Mightyena. "This is my father," he nods to a large, muscular Mightyena next to his mom. Once he introduced them to me, he spoke his language to introduce me to them. "My Aunt, My uncle, my other uncle.." he rambled labels with walking down the line. It was all so confusing, since they all looked alike, no differences at all, except for his grandmother who had more gray hair than the rest. He went to the front and pulled one of the Poochyena's from a wrestling match.

"This little monster is my brother, Xap. Watch out!," he threw the boy in my face without letting him go. The boy wasn't really scary, but the sudden movement caught me off guard. I screeched and back away, all his family chuckled and laughed at my cowardliness. "He might just eat you... if he hasn't had his snack yet," he shrugged and put the pup on the ground. The pup stuck his tongue out and then retreated behind the group of his relatives. Nokto laughed and started to walk away from his family, down the trail of the Forrest, I began to follow, but then turned.

"It was nice to meet you all," I smile and jogged to catch up to Nokto. "You have a lot of family!"

"I haven't even introduced you to my sisters," he smirked," and yeah, that's what happens when no one leaves or moves," he sighed.

"You have sisters," I was intrigued.

"Yes, my baby sister Darah and my older sister, Tusma," he frowned," I don't think I'll have you meet Tusma."

"Why not?," I asked offended. "Is she that rude?"

Nokto turned to me," Do not speak ill of my family, you have only just met them and haven't had the chance meet my sister," he said irritated. "You think you're so great don't you? High and mighty Vulpix." He looked at me in disgust and turned away.

"That's not what I meant at all!," I ran in front of him. " You just accuse me of all these things but give me no time to explain. If anyone is acting high and mighty here, its you," I stared him down. His red eyes burn into me, making me feel more uncomfortable than I did back there in front of his parents. _I am such an idiot, he is gonna kill me. Or have his pack do it, same thing. _

He looked away first, turning his face to the sky, humming slightly," Okay, fine. Explain what you meant," he returned his gaze to mine, but I looked away and started walking again.

"What I meant was, you just introduced me to your whole family, Nokto. When I say that, I mean your WHOLE FAMILY! And to be honest, not all of them seemed to thrilled to meet me," I glanced to him briefly.

He nodded while looking at the ground," Yes, that is true."

"Sooo... I was just thinking, that if the members of your family that didn't want to meet me, came to see me, what would be so bad about your sister? That's all, no high and mighty thinking, just curiosity," I look to the trees, avoiding his gaze.

It stayed silent for a few minutes until spoke," Okay...," he paused," I can see your thinking in that. Alright, I'll tell you. Tusma doesn't really like any other kind of pokemon, only Mightyena and Poochyena. Usually there is no problem, most pokemon living nearby know to steer clear of our tribe, but since you were just passing through and in trouble, I made an exception. When she heard I rescued you, a Vulpix, she refused to speak to me... she still hasn't yet."

I turned my head back to Nokto," I'm sorry," I bow my head," for causing so many problems in your pack."

He looked to me," It's not you. There are always problems in a family, especially mine," he smirked," But you do add on to it," he nudges me.

I chuckle," You could say that again. My family is pretty messed up... and your welcome?"

"What's so bad in your perfect little world, Violet. Did your parents say no to you?," he asked widening his eyes in fake sympathy.

I roll my eyes," Forget it."

"Violet, wait. I'm sorry. I can be an ass sometimes, but you should know that by now. Tell me. I want to know," his said, his eyes were sincere and apologetic.

"Fine. My parents kinda... well they kind of don't want to see me anymore. Not until I break up with my boyfriend," I tell him._ Boyfriend? Chance was my boyfriend, wasn't he? We had never made it official, but the 'I love you' is kind of a relationship definer. Yeah, he is basically your boyfriend._

"That's harsh. What so bad about your boyfriend, did he kill someone? Is he like 30 or something?," Nokto asked curiously.

"What?," I snorted in disbelief," No! Nothing like that. He is just not... Uhm, well... My parents don't approve that I'm dating a Growlithe."

"Oh, is that it? That is so stupid," he mumbled.

"Ohh really?," I say matter of factly," Are you trying to say that if you brought home a Pidgey as your girlfriend, your parents would be okay with it?"

"Uhmmm, No," he laughed," But unlike you I don't have a lot of choices. I can date this Mightyena...or maybe that one, there is no variety."

"True," I say, thinking about how hard it must be not to meet too many different Pokemon types. I was always meeting new pokemon on account of my job. Never meeting any new types, must make some of them closed minded, Nokto was. Always calling me spoiled and thinking I look down on him, he had a long way to go before he could begin to understand other pokemon.

"You're family have very... unusual names," I speak, choosing my words carefully, trying to change the subject.

"Maybe to you," he replied," But to my people they make sense."

"Do they have meaning?"

"Yes," he saw that I was expecting an explanation, and he sighed. "Most people believe Mightyena to be evil and cruel because we are Dark Pokemon, so my mother named us all Dark names. My name, Nokto means Night in Esperanto."

I look at him like he has gone crazy, and he rolls his eyes," Esperanto is a human language."

"How does your mom know human languages, but not know simple pokemon?," I ask confused.

He rolled his eyes again, annoyed,"My grandmother used to be a pet pokemon, but her trainer got bored with training pokemon so he released them all. You know that once you are caught in a pokeball you learn all human languages?" I nod and he continues," Well, my grandmother returned and started a family, and when my mother had my sister, she wanted to be ironic and name us all kind of evil names. You know, in spite of everyone thinking we already are evil? So, my grandmother helped her by using the human languages. Mine, is Esperanto. Tusma is 'darkness' in Lativan, Xap is 'black' in Mongolian, and Darah is 'blood' in Indonesian," he smiled proudly, flashing his pointed teeth. "A lot of our pack thought it was quite clever and are now doing the same with their own children."

"Oh... I guess that makes your mom a trend setter," I smile a fake smile, not knowing what to say._ What am I supposed to say to that? That cool, your mom has a wicked sense of humor._

He laughs," I guess you could s-" Nokto was saying when he was knocked the ground. He fell into me, knocking me over too, making me tumble and my ankle scram in agony. Even in it's cast, extreme movement hurt like a bitch.

I was pushed into the bushes on the opposite side of the trail, I didn't try to move at first because of my ankle. I heard grunting and growling coming from the path and I was scared. _What if it's the Hunters? How can I run and get help? _I crawled to peek out through the leaves and saw the fight that was happening. Nokto and some orange dog were biting and clawing at each other. _Wait? That's not some random orange dog, its.._

"CHANCE!"


	7. Chapter 7

The orange dog turned to me and I saw his brilliant face. It was him! My heart raced with joy and all previous pain of falling had melted away. _It's Chance! _When he saw me, his eyes seemed to relax, just a little, and he began to walk to me, until Nokto pounced on him, biting his neck.

"No! Nokto, STOP!," I screamed from my hiding spot, crawling onto the trail slowly. He must have not heard or not cared, because he only tightened his grip. Chance snarled and started bucking, trying to through Nokto off, but all it did was make him tighten his grip. The pain was visible on Chance's face, he stopped thrashing and fell to the ground, Nokto still on his neck.

"Nokto! STOP! LET HIM GO!," I screeched, trying to stand. "PLEASE NOKTO! That is the boy I told you about!" Nokto's eyes looked to me, but his jaw remained locked on Chance's neck. "Nokto, please stop!," I wobbled over to them.

Nokto opened his mouth and spit our orange fur, while backing away from Chance's body.

"Chance! Chance!," I bent over him horrified by all the blood. "Chance, answer me! Please!"

"...Violet..," he whispered in a hoarse voice. I bent down and put my paws up against his neck wound,"Chance...," tears stung my eyes. Blood kept rushing out, I turned to Nokto," Go get help," I said, but he wasn't there. He was gone, it was just Chance and I alone.

The tears were streaming down my face," Chance, hang on. Hang on... Just hang on!" He closed his eyes and his breathing was so shallow, I didn't know if he was breathing at all. "CHANCE! CHANCE, LOOK AT ME!," I screamed while my paws were slipping on all the blood, his fur was now a dark burgundy color around his shoulders. Chance's eyes flickered open looking around, they were glossy and unfocused.

"Oh God... oh god...please. Chance, stay with me!," I tell him, refusing to let go. I heard a deep rumble in the distance, I look up and see dust on the path down a ways. I squint to get a better look, but all I saw was tiny dust storm getting closer and closer. I looked back at Chance, his eyes were starting to close, and his body seemed to be going limp. "Chance," I sobbed hysterically, wrapping my limbs around him. "Don't leave me."

At all I once, he was being ripped away from me, I was sitting alone on the road. I couldn't see anything, the dust was so thick, making it hard to breath. It started to clear and I saw Mightyena surrounding something a few feet in front of me. _What are they doing? What are they doing to Chance? Are they attacking him?...Are they eating him? _I jumped up quickly, sending sharp jolts of pain from my ankle to my brain, "GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU SICK BASTARDS!," I race to the pack, jumping on one's back, pulling him away.

"Get away!," I yell while scratching at his face, he growls and throws me from his back to the ground, snarling. He turned to me with his red eyes glowing and fangs showing before returning to the circle around Chance. I get up again determined to save Chance and start to charge...well limp, at them, until Nokto steps into my path.

"Stop! Violet, stop!," He grabs me around the waist as I try to move around him. I keep trying to get to Chance, against his strength it was useless and we fall onto the ground. "They're helping, Violet! Can't you see? They are saving his life," he says into my ear fiercely," Calm down. Calm down. They're only helping."

I look over and see them running around placing IVs in him and applying bandages. _They are helping... _Without any warning, I start sobbing again. He looked so dead and unresponsive, like there was no hope. Nokto released his grip on me as I wept uncontrollably in his lap, staining his dark fur with my tears.

"Why," I cried. "Why did you do this," I pull away from him staring at the pack of Mightyena surrounding the only guy I had ever loved.

"Violet.. I didn't mean.. I mean, It's not my fault that he attacked me."

"IT IS YOUR FAULT! You fucking bite his neck, Nokto! I mean.. Who fucking does that?! Even after I said to stop, that he was no threat!," I screamed through my tears.

"Look, you need to-" Nokto started to say.

"NO! I DON'T NEED TO ANYTHING!," I yell, then turn to him with disgust," You killed him. You are the one who did this"

He opened his mouth in shock, speechless. " Violet... I-I-I can't believe you would say that.. I-I-I-I tried t-to save you."

I look away from him, not interested in his excuses. All I needed to know was that he killed Chance, nothing would justify it. **Nothing.** Nokto walked around to sit in my line of vision, "Violet, I thought he was attacking us, so I pushed you away! Don't you see I was trying to protect you? I thought he was just some wild dog who was going to kill us! If I wanted to kill him, why would I have gotten help? Are you even listening to me?," he tried explaining, but stopped. "Yeah, you know what, sure. Yup, I killed him. Murderer right here! MURDERER RIGHT HERE," he shouted looking into the sky with his limbs outstretched, waiting for punishment," Killed this guy just because I can, I'm a vicious monster. I am pure evil, right? You know what, Fuck you Violet."

What he said didn't hurt me, how could someone feel pain if they're paralyzed? I was already dead, too, at least I felt like it. The world seemed to have lost all color, turning gray and dull right in front of my eyes, like all the joy was gone. _It is_, I thought. _Chance is my definition of perfection. He is happiness... at least he was._

One of the Mightyena started to speak to Nokto, saying something fast and urgently, Nokto nodded. The Mightyena all began to move at once, placing Chance on some of their backs, being careful of his tubes and wires.

"What? What's happening?," I ask. Nokto just turned away and began to follow his pack down the path. "NOKTO! What is happening," I hobble beside him.

"Your boyfriend isn't dead," he states blankly, looking straight forward, like I wan't even there.

"What? Can they save him? Will he be alright?," I hobble faster.

"No one can say," he turned to me with a hard, unpleasant stare," Go back to the cave. Do not return to my village," with that he ran ahead to his pack, talking to them quickly, leaving me behind.

"WAIT! WAIT, DON'T GO! I need to be with Chance!," I call out to them, but they continue to rush onward, ignoring my plea. I try to run after them, but stumble over my cast and face plant into the ground. _Ow. My face hurts._ _They're gone now... I'm alone._ I lift my head from the dirt and, sure enough, the road is empty. I put my head back on the road, laying there, not moving.

_What has happened to my life? Everything is wrong. None of this should have happened. What if this is a sign that I was wrong to leave home? What is my life becoming? What if Chance doesn't make it? What if I cant find Jack or Theresa? What if those Hunters have them? What if Nokto never comes back to tell me about Chance? ...What if I just never moved from this spot. I could just lay here forever. That might be nice. Too bad reality isn't nice, _I think as I stand up from the dirt. _I need to be strong for Chance. He needs me, but I can't go back to the village. What can I do...?_ I sigh loudly,_ I have to listen to Nokto._

I walk towards the village, towards Chance, but I know I won't go that far. I'll have to stop short and wait in a cave, like a cowardly fox. _I am a cowardly fox._ There was nothing more I could do to help Chance, going to the village was suicide and Nokto wasn't heartless enough to not keep me informed about Chance. _Was he?_


	8. Chapter 8

It was dark when I finally made it back to the cave. I start a fire and cuddle close to it, remembering when I first woke up in this cave and how arrogant Nokto had been. But also sweet he was, especially when he saved me from the storm. I replayed the last couple days in head, Nokto saving me, getting his mom to help my ankle, introducing me to his family, our talk, the fight. In all of it Nokto was arrogant, maybe rude, but he wasn't evil. On the contrary, he was very generous and understanding... but still rude.

_I am such a bitch. When did I become this person? I don't want to be this person. Nokto had helped me and then tried to save me and how did I repay him? By ignoring him and accusing him of murder. When did I become this person?, _a tear slide down my cheek. _I don't want to be this person. I need to fix this._ I lift my head from the ground, but outside it is dark and gloomy. _I just have to wait until Nokto comes to see me. _I put my head back onto the floor and closed my eyes, drifting slowly to sleep.

That night I had a dream about Chance and Nokto, but it was terrible. The worst nightmare I had ever had in my entire life. The Hunters came to Nokto's village and started to burn their homes, making them come out. The Mightyena began to attack, but the Hunter's cut them down, killing them instantly with their blades. I run to find Chance, but instead I ran into the human girl. She saw me and laughed, then reached down and picked up a Poochyena from the ground. It was Xap. She turned back to me and smiled as she placed the blade to his throat, then cut Xap's head off. I scream in horror and tried to run away but, the man hunter catches me and throws me into a pit with Nokto. I was happy to see him alive and unharmed, but he growled at me. "Nokto? What's wrong?", I ask him. He snarled at me, his red eyes were burning brightly, then they faded to black. Pitch black, they had no color at all. Nokto lunged onto me, throwing me backwards, digging his long claws into my chest. "NOKTO! NOKTO, GET OFF," I yelped in pain. He grinned smugly," I'm a murderer, remember?," and then he reached down and sunk his teeth into my throat, then tore my neck open.

I sat up screaming and thrashing trying to get Nokto of me, but he wasn't there. I opened my eyes, blinking rapidly, but I was back in the cave, alone and safe with the sun shinning through the opening. I was breathing heavily, trying to calm myself down but I kept seeing his eyes change from red to black. Changing into a terrifying beast who ripped my throat out! I lay back down and close my eyes, _Gosh... I'm hungry. _I sat up again,_ I wonder where some food would be in this Forrest. Ill go to the river and see what's there, _I stand up and waddle to the cave's entrance.

_I can't leave! What if Nokto comes back and I'm not here!? _I sit down and take a deep breath, the sun is high in the sky shinning brightly, making my fur start to sizzle. I walk back into the cool darkness of the cave,_ I wonder when he will come? When he does, what am I going to say? I have to apologize. What if he never comes? What am I gonna do, _I bow my head and feel tears prickling in my eyes.

"Mhh Hmm," Someone clears their voice behind me, I turn around quickly. Nokto is standing in the cave's entrance, staring me down with his vicious cool eyes.

"Hello," I whisper, afraid to speak too loudly.

"Violet," he says me name coolly and emotionlessly.

"Nokto... Nokto, I'm so sorry... I-I-I don't know what came over me. I-I'm so sorry," I stammer, my voice is low and cowardly," When I said those things... I don't know," I look to the floor with no good excuses for my behavior.

"Forget it," he says gruffly." What was I suppose to suspect? I just don't understand you, or anyone else outside my tribe..," his voice fades and I look up at him. He is looking a the floor of the cave, concentrating hard. " You didn't even know what I was, Violet... but you still pegged us as murderers. Is that what the world is like? Is it that cruel?"

"No, No, I promise. The world is amazing, but I'm... I'm just a rude Vulpix, remember?" I rush to reassure him. Nokto raises his face to look at me, he wasn't angry, he was hurt. At the moment I knew that I could never convince him of the good in the world, I had destroyed his idea of society. "I wouldn't really know either. I've lived on a mountain all my life, this is my first trip away. The world has to be better, it just has too.." at this point I'm reassuring myself more than him.

Nokto sucked in a deep breath," I hope you are right...," he turned away to look at the wall.

"Nokto... Nokto, how is Chance?," I ask him, trying not to sound rude or inconsiderate, but it was killing me not to know.

He didn't turn to look at me, he continued to look at the wall and whispered," Stable."

I sighed with relief," That's great... Thank God."

"Yes," Nokto chuckled" God."

I walk over to him," I can never thank you enough, Nokto. Thank you...so much. You saved him."

"I also am the one who caused it."

"That's true, but you fixed it. A person's mistakes don't define them, how they fix them does."

He chuckled softly," Where did you get that? A magazine?"

I set my tone serious, I knew he didn't want to talk about it but I had to tell him," You are not a murderer, Nokto. You are not even close. I know you try to act like it doesn't matter what other's think but I want you to know that I don't think you are. You are an amazing guy and I am grateful for everything you have done to help me."

Nokto turns to me and he so close to me, I didn't realize how close I had gotten. His eyes were a darker red than before, less scary and more insecure. "Violet," his says my name softly in his deep gruff voice,," I think that I love you."

I stopped breathing. _Love me? You barely know me? I barely know you... And all the time you have known me has been mostly insults. I love Chance. _"Nokto... I-I-I"

"Don't speak," he interrupted. " I know you don't like me like that. I bet you think I'm some creep who has only known you for a couple days, so I have made a decision," he paused and looked at the floor. I still couldn't wrap my head around it, _he loves me? **What?! HOW!?**_

"You have to leave. Now," he looks up at me his eyes burning with intensity.

"I-I-I can't. What about Chance? I can't j-just leave him!," I take a step back.

Nokto rolls his eyes," No, really? I was just gonna keep him hostage for the rest of my life, Violet. Of course you won't leave him! I'm going to go get him now, so you can leave. I don't want my... my feeling for you to grow," he swallowed, " It would only make things worse if you stay."

"Nokto... I-I-I don't even know what to say," I say closing my eyes. _How do I respond to this?_

"It's fine." he smiled. "When you leave, it'll be a lot easier. I just wanted to tell you... before you go. I'm...I'm going to get him, I'll be back soon." Nokto turned away, but then all at once, his lips were against mine. My eyes widened and I started to pull away but by the it was over, just as quickly as it began. I was too shocked to speak. _Did it even really happen? It had to of, why would I imagine it?_ Nokto walked out of the cave, but then turned and said," I'm sorry, Violet," then leaped out of my sight.

_Oh. My. god. Chance is going to flip._


	9. Chapter 9

Waiting in the cave was even worse than it had been before, now everything was different. _Nokto said he loved me... I don't even see how he came to that conclusion. Did I lead him on in some way? What did I do? He is probably just confused. I wonder if he has even been in love? Oh god, How am I gonna tell Chance about this? Maybe I shouldn't... not until we are far away. Yeah that's when I'll do it. It won't be lying if I eventually tell him, right? Oh god! Where could they be?_

I step out of the cave to look down the trail, but it was empty. The sun was making the air hot and sticky, my throat was dry and scratchy. _I need some water._ I walk out into the sunlight and feel my body temperature rise 10 degrees, the inside of my cast was beginning to itch. _Whew. _I turn away from Nokto's village to make my way down to the stream. I don't want to think about the day's events so I focus on the nature surrounding me. The bird's chirping happily, the breeze blowing through the trees, they way the dirt felt against my paws. Despite the heat, the day was beyond gorgeous, like something you read about in a fairytale. I take a deep breath of the fresh crisp air and continue down the path, listening to the woods around me. I hear the stream ahead, but the birds have gone silent, opening my ears for the sound of a slight rustle in the bushes up ahead_._

I stop walking and eye them suspiciously, the bushes rustled again, but not with the wind. The whole forest seemed to have lost all signs of life, no birds, no breeze, no noise. I begin to creep forward looking around innocently, like I had no idea that there was someone there. When it was about 10 feet away I increased my speed to a full on sprint and leaped into the air like a Machop and tackled the bush with all my brutality.

I heard someone grunt and felt them struggle against my weight. I start the claw at whoever it was viciously, sinking my nails into their flesh. I couldn't see with all the leaves in my face, but I hurt them screech in pain, so I slashed with more ferocity. They shifted underneath me and I lost my balance, sending both of us tumbling away from the bush. I landed face down in the dirt and my ankle was throbbing, the sudden intense pain was blurring my vision. I lifted my head slowly, searching the trees for who I had tackled.

I saw a white body a few feet away from me to my left. The body was white but the hair was a deep orange and red flaming brightly in every direction. _A Ponyta? It's Jack!_

"Jack," I called to him with my scratchy voice, struggling to stand," Jack, is that you?"

The white horse shifted into a sitting position, but it wasn't facing me. The white horse looked like Jack; tall, pale body, flaming red hair, a Ponyta. I would only know for sure if he talked to me... or if I saw his gorgeous pale blue eyes. The horse stood up and shook like a wet dog, sending embers in all directions, then turned to face me.

"Hello Violet," Jack spoke.

"JACK!," I rushed to him, but my leg's pain increased, so I collapsed onto the forest floor, not caring about the pain at all, " Jack, Oh thank god. Thank god you're okay!" I glance around him to look for a smaller body, but all I see are leaves and twigs. "Where is Theresa?"

Jack trotted over to me," It's good to see you too," he flashed his Hollywood smile," I'm fine. No broken bones," he winked with a devilish grin," and Theresa is in a safe place. I came to find Chance, he left a few days ago to look for you. I guess finding one of you is better than nothing," he winked again.

"So Theresa is okay? You found her?," I sighed with relief," I'm glad we are all safe."

Jack turned his look to the ground, clearing his throat, looking down,"Well...yeah. Except for Chance. We don't know where he is... like I said, he left a few days ago to find you... he never came back."

"Well, he did a good on his search and rescue mission, he found me," I smile and Jack looks up at me his mouth gaped open," It's a long story, but first I need some water. Can you help me up, Jack?"

He smile again," What are gentlemen for, my lady?" and he eased me up carefully with his snout. The movement still hurt my leg, but I hid the pain as well as I could. Jack frowned when I was standing," What happened to you? Where did you get that cast?"

"Long story," I mumble.

He gave a me a questioning look, "You're gonna have to tell me these long stories," but he didn't pressure me, Jack left it at that. "Why don't I take you to where you've been staying so we can get Chance, then I'll get you some water and go get Theresa?," he proposed.

"Sounds good to me," I say wincing from the abrupt pain caused by my movement. Jack and I walked back slowly, due to my annoying cast and I showed him the cave.

"Nice place," he said looking at it," Could use a woman's touch, though," he smiled.

"Shut up," I laughed.

"Where is Chance?, " Jack asked.

"Uhm..." I didn't know whether or not to tell Jack about Nokto. The fact that Nokto had almost killed Chance, might put Jack on edge. "He'll be back soon," I tell him.

"Okay," Jack shrugged it off," I'll go get water and Theresa. Don't get anywhere," he joked.

"Get out," I laughed, shooing him from the cave.

_YEAH! I FOUND THEM! Now we can all leave and get to Qurxoon Falls! _Everything was going back to normal. I could feel a gigantic weight being lifted off my chest. _Finally! I can't wait to tell Chance that Jack is coming._

The sun was sinking into the trees fast and I decided to start a fire for when the night gets cold. I heard talking down the trail and strained my ears to recognize the voices but they were too distant to tell. I sit and wait for either Jack and Theresa or Chance and Nokto to enter the cave, hoping that it was Jack and Theresa. I hadn't seen her in so long, I wanted to know that she was okay, but Chance hobbles into my vision.

His neck was bandaged and he walked with a slight limp, but all in all, he looked like Chance. _My hero._

"Hey you," he says standing in the entrance of the cave.

"Chance," my voice trembles. Chance was too good for me, he tried to save me, he was my everything. The fury, scruffy orange dog was my heart and soul. I didn't deserve him. He was perfect.

Chance's ears perk slightly as he comes to me," Hey. Hey, what's wrong? I'm okay, I promise. It's looks worse than what it is. It's okay. Don't cry. Don't cry, Violet," He nuzzled his nose into my neck. His act of affection only made me sob harder.

"CHANCE! CHANCE, I don't deserve you!," I weep loudly.

He pulls away to look me in the eye," What? What are you talking about, Vi?"

"You're too good for me," I sniffle looking the ground," You deserve someone better."

Chance lowers his face to mine," Don't ever say that, Violet. If anyone is lucky here, it's me. I'm the luckiest pup in the world to have met a girl like you. To have a girl like you. Don't you ever say different, you hear?"

"But Chance-"

"You hear?," he repeats.

"Okay."

Chance takes a deep breath," I'm so relived that you're okay, Violet. I was dying not knowing where you were or if you were safe," he nuzzles into me again and this time I nuzzle back. He feels so good, like warm blanket you want to wrap yourself in.

"I'm happy you're here. I was worried I had lost you," a tear slides down my cheek.

"Nope. Takes more than a bite to put old Chance out in the pasture," he chuckles.

"It's not funny Chance. Nokto could have killed you. They way they came in and rushed you out, I thought he had."

"I'm sorry. He could have, I know, but I saw you walking and thought he was.. I don't know, kidnapping you or something-"

"No," I jump in," He didn't Chance. Nokto saved me the night we all got separated. He saved my life."

"Mine too. You know, he's a pretty good guy," Chance said with some respect in his voice. _SHIT! It would be a lot easier if you didn't like him._

"No matter what, you'll always be my hero," I lean into him and listen to the rhythmic sound of his heart beat. _Why do you have to be so perfect, Chance? How am I going to tell you?_


	10. Chapter 10

"Violet..." A voice drifts through the air. _Is this real? Who is that? _

"Violet..." It repeats and I slowly open my eyes, but it didn't help; the room was completely black. There was nothing. _Is **this** real?_

"Violet...are you awake? Wake up, Vi."

"I'm awake," I reply, squinting my eyes, trying to see something. Anything. "Did I fall asleep? Why is so dark?"

Chance chuckles softly," Yes, you feel asleep an its dark, well... because you fell asleep and **slept**... for a really long time."

"Oh," I whisper bashfully," Why did you wake me up?"

"Jack is here with Theresa. It's time to go, it'll almost be sunup and when need to start making some ground. We've lost a lot of time."

I could now see his outline sitting in front of me and the cave was coming into focus.

"You mean we're leaving now?! Like right now?"

"Yes, now. Jack is getting more on edge the longer we stay. It's best to leave before anything happens" he stands and moves toward the mouth of the cave.

"Too late," I mutter under my breath. I stand up and stretch, once again forgetting that I had a cast. _When will I ever get used to this? Stupid thing._

I limped out of the cave into the dark morning. Even though the sun was about to come up, the stars were shining brilliantly. They twinkled above the tree line bringing promise and hope to a new and stress free day. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, _Today is gonna suck._

"VIOLET! VIOLET! OH MY GOSH, VIOLET!,"Theresa bellowed while dashing over to me, picking me into the air inside of a monstrous hug.

"Violet, I'm so sorry..," she whispered into my ear, her voice sounded as if she was about to cry.

"Theresa. It's so good to see you! I'm so glad your safe," I hugged her back as best I could, but it was hard we she had me off the ground.

She lowered me and started to cry silently, her shoulders shaking viciously. "I'm so sorry, Violet. I have no idea how we all got separated. I was so scared when didn't see you in front of me anymore. Like a coward, I ran for shelter instead of finding you. I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?," she looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her face was tear streaked.

"Hey, it's not your fault. Seriously, it's no one's fault. These things happen, everyone is safe and there was no harm done," I smile at her reassuringly.

"Then why do you have a cast," she whispers, so softly I barely heard her.

"Oh, this," I lift my casted leg," This is nothing. Just some minor damage, it had nothing to do with the night we were separated," Besides the cast, I'm fine. And Chance just got into a disagreement with a... a local pokemon. I mean, accidents happen, right?"

She sniffles," I guess so..."

_What do I say now? Shit. I'm never the one who has to fill the awkward void, Theresa does that. Uhm... god, this is hard._

"So, the boys found you?"

"She lifted her head again,"Yeah, they found me."

"Good. I'm glad you weren't out there all alone. These woods are not a friendly place," I winked," Now, no more sad, crying, depressing Theresa. I need happy, bubbly Theresa, okay?"

She nods her head and sniffles one last time," I hate being such an emotional person," she grunts.

I laugh," Don't we all!"

We walk over to the boys who are fixing up the packs and doing an inventory check before we fall out into the wilderness.

"Shit," I say to myself.

"What?," Theresa overhears me.

"I, I just remembered that I dropped my pack the night of the storm. It had all my stuff in it."

"Oh," she replied with big blue eyes, " I'm sorry, but it's not that bad. We can manage without it," she perks up and smiles.

"Yeah, your right. At least now I don't have to carry a backpack," I snort.

"It's not like you would have anyways," she said casually.

"What?," I was confused.

"Well.. I mean, look at yourself. You have a cast on for crying out loud. No one would have made you carry the bag," she replied like I was a complete idiot.

"Oh."

_I didn't even think about it like that. This cast may come in handy... or it could just slow us all down tremendously. I wonder how long it will take to heal?_

"Hey Chance," I call out still thinking.

"Yeah," he said in the same tone, still focused on the luggage.

"How will we know when my leg is better? Or even when to take the cast off? Or how to take the cast off?," I asked looking down at the scuffed up linen wrapped on my leg.

Chance furrowed his brow," I don't know. I didn't think about that," he confessed, digging into his pack.

"And what about your neck," I added, "How will we know when it's all better?," I looked up.

"I'm not worried about it, it's just a sprain. But you..." He stopped digging and came over to me. Now her was clearly concerned," You have a broken leg. That's serious," he crouched down to look at my leg.

"It's not that serious," I said trying to sound like it wasn't really a big deal. He glanced up at me, knowing I was trying to down play our situation. "Okay! fine! It might be a little serious," I admit.

"Maybe," Theresa butts in," you'll just know. You know? Like, we'll all be walking and you'll just go 'hey I think my leg is better'."

Slowly Chance and I both turned to face her, she was smiling, but then when she saw us looking at her she got self-conscious. "What," she asked, oblivious to how ignorant her previous statement was.

"Nothing, " I reply smirking to myself. I turn to Chance," I think we need to know this. It is kind of important."

"It is just kind of important.. not like a really big deal. I don't think we should worry to much about it. I mean, is a broken leg even considered an injury," he asked in his fake curious voice.

"Shut up," I smiled at him and he returned it. I missed this, jsts joking around and being happy. I scoffed at myself, _Not like we've had many of these moments._

His toothy grin made my heart skip a beat and my stomach release some butterflies._ He was till just a sweet little Growlithe. He hasn't changed at all. Why should he have? He doesn't know. Shit, I still have to tell him. This will be shitty, but it shouldn't be all bad. I mean, I didn't do anything to evoke Nokto's affections. If anything, It should have repelled him. I was a royal bitch._

"Uhmm... hey, Chance," I cleared my throat. "We should probably talk. It's about Nokto, and I-.."

Chance cut me off before I could finish," I can't believe I forgot about him! That's perfect! We can just go ask him about your leg, right? I mean, he'll know when it should heal by. Good idea. I'll go tell Jack we need to make a slight detour and then we'll be on our way. I'm glad we remembered this before we got too far away," he smiled and then gave me a quick kiss before bounding off to tell Jack about the dely.

_Shit. Shit. Shit! This is just getting worse the longer I prolong it! Shit! What do I do know? I can't tell him before we get there because... well what if he flips out? But even worse, WHAT IF NOKTO TELLS HIM?!_


	11. Chapter 11

"I never thought that I would have a pack," Theresa chattered away into my ear. We were sauntering down the trail, each step bringing me closer to the moment of truth. There was no way I could not tell Chance about Nokto, He has to know, AND before we get there.

"Even though being in a pack isn't exactly how I thought it would be. In my daydreams we were all Victini and all girls. We gossiped about people and told stories from our pasts while sitting around a fire doing each others hair and nails," she said dreamily, no doubt imaging the scenario in her head.

"Uhmm.. well that sounds great and all but-..." I started to say, trying to pry away from the conversation.

"BUT," she stated boldly," This is just as great," she reassured to me, like I cared. "I am so grateful for this pack. We are so different, yet we all click, isn't that weird? We are like some twisted family, where you're the mom and Chance is the..," her voice faded and her eyes clouded with a distant thought.

Okaaaay... This is odd. "Theresa, I have to go talk to Chance about something, be right back," I turned around. I'm a really bad friend for bailing on her when she seems so concerned about something, but I needed to talk to Chance. I'll have to comfort Theresa later.

I to see Chance and Jack following us, slowly making their way down the trail, whispering to each other in hushed voices.

"Well, well, well, what are you two girls gossiping about," I asked.

"You know, Violet, just about the latest Fall fashions. I hear that curly hair is really in style this season and I'm trying to convince Chance here, to give a try," Jack retorted without a blink of an eye in false high falsetto voice.

Chance laughed and continued with the lie," Yeah, you know, I've been thinking I need to change my style. What do you think?," he stopped and propping up his hair with his paw and looking off into the distance, kind of like a model.

I chuckled," Absolutely: curls, they would be so you. Hey, Jack, can I talk to Mrs. Fall Fashion over here?"

"Sure thing, little darling", he drawled in his best southern accent and galloped ahead of us, but not so far ahead that he was next to Theresa.

"What's up," Chance asked me as we strolled together in the new morning light. The day was so precious and beautiful, to bad I was about to ruin it.

"I need to tell you something that happened while we were separated," I told him. Surprisingly, my voice didn't crack and it was strong and sturdy. Chance just listened, he didn't say a word and his eyes were cool and calm. I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut, "Chance... Noktosaidhewasinlovewithme," I say it so quickly, I wasn't sure if I really said it. I open one eye to test the water, but nothing. There were no explosions, no screaming or dropped jaw. Chance was still walking, he hadn't stopped; he wasn't steaming or shaking with rage, there was nothing.

"Chance," I ask skeptically and paused before continuing," Did you hear wha-..." Before I could finish, he was standing in front of me, he moved so quickly I didn't see him until he was there. His eyes were swirling with a dark green clouding the cheerful hazel color, making his eyes look intense and guarded. In a mater of milliseconds, the polite, happy, loving Chance I knew was a distant memory. He was now closed and cold, staring me down with his placid yet afflicted eyes.

Before I could explain everything he spoke with a blank, sharp tone that cut the air, "Do you love him?"

Wait...What?! Really? Do I love him? He can't be serious. "You can't be serious," I scoffed at him. I dont believe this!

He never blinked, he never looked, and his eyes never changed," Do you love him?," he repeated slower, putting emphasis on each individual word.

Did he go crazy? What just happened?! "Chance... Do you-," I choke," Are you-... I mean, how can you think... that I-I" I stop and close my eyes, drawing in a long slow breath of the cold morning air, trying to compose myself and my thoughts.

I open my eyes and see him, still there. He hadn't moved, I half expected him to run away and never look back, but here he was. He breathing was slow and forced, his eyes were scanning my face, waiting desperately for my answer, like his life depended on this moment. Those eyes. The eyes that were my anchor to reality, and still were. The eyes that understood and excepted me for everything I was, those beautiful dark green eyes. The eyes that were always overfilling with joy, now looked like they could just shattered and fall from his face like tears.

"No," I whispered barely audible, shifting my eyes downward, unable to look at his dismal eyes. "How could I love anyone but you, Chance."

Without even a second passing of my response Chance asked," What happened? Tell me everything," his muscles relaxed slightly and he sat down curling his big poofy tail around his feet. Even though he seemed slightly calmer, his eyes were still guarded with his dark green iris'.

I sat down too, wrapping my six tails around me for comfort, taking a deep breath," Well, there isn't much to tell," I confess, glancing up at him.

"Obviously, something happened, Violet," Chance spoke quietly and for the first time breaking the eye contact to took down at the dirt.

I looked past him down the trail, but it was deserted. Theresa and Jack were nowhere to be seen, they hadn't noticed that we had temporarily stopped.

I guess it's better that we are alone for this, I think silently.

I refocused back on Chance, but he was still look down sheepishly, as if he was in trouble.

I'm so sorry Chance, I never wanted to hurt you. Now it's my turn to look down sheepishly," He kissed me yesterday," I tell him as a tear escapes my eyes and rolls silently into the dirt, staining the earth. "He said he loved me and that I had to leave so he would forget about me, then he kissed me and went to go get you," I finish with more tears rolling into the dirt. "I don't know what led him to that conclusion, I was horrible to him. Accusing him of kidnapping me, thinking he was a demon, and when he bit you, I lost it. I have never been so harsh to anyone else in my life."

"So... it's just a one sided thing? You don't love him, at all," Chance asked raising his head.

"No Chance," I reassured him quickly," I don't love him at all. How could I? I already have you, what more could I need?," I looked into his eyes conveying my point. His dark green shields were slowing fading away, but not completely. "I can't lose you Chance," another tear escapes me" that's why I had to tell you," my voice faltered. "I can't lose you."

In an instant, his eyes were back to their rich honey color, the horrid green was gone. He took a step closer to me and lowered his face to mine, his eyes were warm and welcoming. "You could never lose me, Violet," he spoke so gently and so confidently, my heart melted. The tears were uncontrollable, I couldn't stop them from falling.

"Can you ever forgive me," I ask him, terrified of his answer.

He smiled sadly" There is nothing to forgive, Violet. I believe you. That nothing happened, that it was just... just a big...," he furrowed his brow," I don't even know what to call it. And accident?," he questioned.

I took a sign of relief and nuzzled into his fur, breathing his oaky, pine cone smell, "I don't know, either and I don't care. I'm just glad it's over."

He rested his head on mine, making me feel safe and warm," Yes, " he reassured me," It's over."

"Chance?," I asked into his fuzzy chest.

"Hmm?"

"How could you think I loved him?," I was too afraid to look at him so I stayed there, buried into him. His body tensed slightly at my question.

"I didn't. Deep down I knew that you didn't love him, but I had to ask. I had to hear you say that it wasn't true," he spoke immersing his snout into my hair.

I pulled away to look at him," So, you're not mad? At all? At me or Nokto?"

He chuckled," No, I'm not mad...well not anymore," he confessed. I tilted my head silently asking him to continue. "Well.. when you said he kissed you, I almost lost it completely but then I... I...," his voice trailed away and he looked into the distance.

"But then you what," I persisted.

He turned back to me and smiled, making my knees shake slightly. "I thought about what I would have done in his position. Rescuing an elegant Vulpix and spending time with her and her one of a kind personality. Staring in to those deep, breath taking eyes... I would fall in love too," he chuckled softly, "I'm just glad I found you first."

My brain was fuzzy and my stomach was full of butterflies. "I don't deserve you, Chance."

"Nor I, you," he says with an old English accent, which made me laugh. I loved him so much, and I knew that he loved me. That's all I could ever ask for.

"So..., what do we do now?"

"Hmm.. good question. Well, we still need to know about your cast, so... I say we continue onward."

"To see Nokto?"

"Yeah, I mean why not? Afraid your going to catch feeling for him," he teased.

"Shut up! That's so not funny!," I swatted at him with my paw, but dodged it easily. "Are you sure? I don't want you put in a situation where... where you might lose your temper"

"As long as I know you love me and not him, he can't faze me. I mean, how can I be mad when I have the girl of my dreams? And, it doesn't even matter to me that he thinks he loves you, this isn't about him. It's about you. We need to make sure that your leg is okay and how to properly take care of it," his eyes glistened with concern.

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly. "Let's go," and we both turned down the trail to catch up to Jack and Theresa.


	12. Chapter 12

The sun was high in the sky when we finally reached Nokto's village. It was hot and I loved it. The sun's warmth was soothing to me and I had always been self conscious about my fur being too pale. Walking around in the sun all day might finally give my fur the shade of red I'd been hoping for. Even though the sun's comforting presence was there, I was still uneasy about going to see Nokto and I was unsure if he would be willing to help us. We were all standing before his village, debating if we should just walk in or not.

"Do we have a plan," Theresa asked, turning to me.

"Uhm... well, no," I admitted. "I don't think we should just walk right in, it might be construed as disrespectful, you know? But, at the same time, I don't know what else to do.."

"You've been here before, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I wasn't really invited. I was brought here because I had injuries, like Chance was. Just because I've been here, doesn't mean I have the right to come and go as I please," I told her.

Jack interrupted by saying," But you were close with this Mightyena, yes? Nooko?"

"Nokto," I corrected him,"...yes, I suppose we were friends," I glanced over at Chance who was sitting there silently.

"Then, you must go in and find him. You know him and if you've been here before, then you have more of a right then all of us," he stated.

"That still doesn't mean that I-.."

"Shh," Chance said, his face serious and his ears perked and alert. "Someone is coming," he turned behind us and sure enough, a figure was approaching from the distance. As far as I could tell, the figure wasn't human, but pokemon. It was approaching quickly, like it was running straight for us. Chance and Jack took charge and stood in front of Teresa and I, blocking us from the charging beast.

"It's a Mightyena," I tell them. _What had Nokto said? They were seriously territorial or something. And here we all were just standing right in front of there village in the middle of the day. Shit. _"Guys, we have to play this right. I mean, Mightyena are really serious about their territory, maybe we shouldn't be taking up battle stances since there is literally a whole tribe right behind us."

"We can't be sure yet, Violet," Chance spoke with a growl, ready to fight," We need to be ready for anything."

"You can't exactly fight with a neck injury," I retorted," Especially since it happened from fighting a Mightyena!"

When the Mightyena was about 100 meters away, it stopped running and walked toward us with it's head held high. It didn't rush toward us, but sauntered casually, when it was close enough it barked. _It's a warning._ Chance returned the bark, it wasn't threatening or intimidating, just a bark.

Once I could see the Mightyena's face I could tell it was a female with her long eyelashes and trimmed claws. She walked closer and spoke out but not in pokemon, in the native language that Nokto's mother had spoken. Chance glanced over to Jack, who had a puzzled expression on his face. I rolled my eyes and walked out from behind Chance, slowly so I wouldn't seem like a threat. Chance growled at me, telling me to stay behind him but I walked out farther.

"Hello," I spoke loudly but calmly. "We don't speak your native language. Do you know basic pokemon?"

She remained silent, her eyes were glowing intently at me, but I wasn't sure if I was threatening or not. She made no indication that she knew what I was saying, but I continued anyway," We mean no harm to you or your tribe. I know that you do not like outsiders, but I have been here before."

Her ears perked up slightly when she heard that, then she turned her gaze to my cast. "Yes," I said," Yes, I was given a cast for my leg and my friend here was given a bandage for his neck," and with that she turned to look behind me at Chance's brace. _She understands._

"I am here as a friend," I emphasized 'friend'. " I know Nokto, and I-" when I said his name her gaze snapped back to me and her eyes were flaring with ferocity.

"Violet...," Chance spoke softly," Get behind me."

"No.. no I can do this. Nokto? Do you know him?," I asked addressing her again.

She lifted her lips, showing me her fangs, growling. She crotched down and her fur flattened against her body. Her eyes were so bright I could barely look at her, she looked like she was about to pounce on me when she spoke," It's you." Her voice was surprising pleasant, like a happy song, but her tone was off putting.

"Excuse me," I squeaked, slightly terrified of her now that she had finally spoken.

"You. You are that Vulpix. The one Nokto rescued," She growled through her bared teeth.

"Yes! Yes, that's me!" I said excitedly smiling. _She knows me. Good. She will know I mean no harm._

"Why did you come here? You are not welcome. Leave!," She demanded loudly.

I drew back slightly," But, wait. Wait, I just have to see Nokto and ask-"

"No! You may not see him," She barked, " He does not wish to see you! Leave, Now!"

"Violet, maybe we should just go," Jack suggested in a quiet voice. "We obviously aren't wanted here," he came up behind me pulling him backward.

"Wait, no! No! Not yet! No!," I broke free and turned back to face the Mightyena," How do you know he doesn't want to see me?"

She sneered," Why would he wish to see you! You think you're that special, Vulpix. So high and mighty! So arrogant! Leave now, before I call my pack!"

_Wow, that's harsh, You don't even know me! Who does she think she is?! Maybe Nokto does want to see me! Nokto was right, his pack really hates outsiders. WAIT! _"Tusma?," I ask suspiciously looking at her closely. Nokto and her did look very similar, but on the other hand, all the Mightyena had the same features.

She shot straight up, her eyes were blazing with anger. I thought she was going to charge at me and claw my eyes out, but instead she tilted her head back and let out a long slow howl that rang through the air.

"VIOLET! NOW!," Chance called desperately and I turn and ran toward them as best I could with the cast. Together we all were running through the trees away from the path and away from the consistent howling. The sound was growing, more and more Mightyena were howling in harmony, the noise was now in front of us and behind us, there was no escape.

I heard a growl and the snap of jaws to my right, I turned to see a Mightyena running along side us, snapping at me through the trees. _There is no way out of this. We are going to die! _I couldn't run anymore, my ankle was sending shooting pains up my leg and slowly I started to fall behind the others as they ran through the trees. I tripped over the root of a tree and fell to the ground, knowing that I was going to die, I hoped that the others would escape safely. _Run! Run, get away. Save yourselves! Save yourself, Chance._

My face was still in the dirt when I heard Theresa yell my name. My leg was agonizing and the sound of running was overwhelming, I felt like I was being suffocated by everything that was happening. When I looked up, surprised I hadn't been ripped apart,I saw that Chance, Jack, and Theresa were surrounding me, but weren't facing me. I struggled to get up, the pain was excruciating. _All this running and falling can not be good for my ankle, _I thought.

When I finally stood up, my legs quivered, but I locked my knees to prevent myself from falling again. I looked around and a gasp escaped me, because we were surrounded by Mightyena. It looked like they went on forever in every direction, all there eyes were fixed on us. They stared unblinkingly, with their fangs bared, some growling loudly. Saliva was dripping from one's mouth and his eyes were crazy, he seemed very hungry to me.

"Chance..." my voice was shaky and scared. He didn't respond, but he was snarling loudly at the pokemon around us.

_This is how we die. Mightyena!? I never would have guessed that this would be the way it happened. This is all my fault. I did this. We should have just left when Tusma told us to. I should have listened. To her, to Jack... and to Chance._

"Chance, I love you."


	13. Chapter 13

Slowly, they moved in, creeping up on us with eyes hungry for blood. One pounced at Jack's leg, but Jack kicked him back and we all heard it yelp with pain. I flinched at the sound, with that, the ravenous looks of the Mightyena seemed to intensify and they all moved in.

_I can't let this happen. Think, think, THINK! What can I do now? Everything has gone to far, they wouldn't believe anything we say over one of there own. I wish Nokto was hear to explain to them all._ My ears perked at the idea and I started to scan the crowd for his face but it was nearly impossible to tell them apart. All their faces blended together, making it all more terrifying. My emotions were boiling over and I wanted to scream with frustration. Ever since we had left Mt. Frolic, my life seemed to be spinning out of my control. _I just want to have control of my own life, that's why I left. But now what? Nothing was going the way I had planned! None of this worth it! I just wanted to know about my injury! This is too much! _My mind was on working on overtime, asking a hundred questions a second making my heart throb.

"STOP!" I yelled, my voice rang through the air. No one moved, not even the Mightyena. The air was filled with tension and the woods were silent. I looked around at the Mightyena, and all of them, every single one, had their eyes fixed on me. I trembled with the terror that consumed me and they all looked upon me.

"Please," my voice was strained and low," Please, all I want is to speak with Nokto," I looked form one pair of ruby eyes to the next, scanning for a clue. Their eyes were hidden and blank, giving nothing away. The was movement behind me, I turned to see the Mightyena moving aside for someone to get through. _Nokto!?_, I wished silently.

A large Mightyena stepped through into the clearing, she looked very familiar, then it hit me that it was Nokto's mother. She circled around the four of us, never taking her eyes off mine. She spoke in her native tongue as she across from me, it wasn't threatening, but Chance was tense and growled under his breath.

"Ma'am? I'm sorry, I don't speak-," and before I could finish one Mightyena spoke up and translated. "She asked you why it was so important," he yelled over his pack.

"Oh..., well thank you," I spoke to him, then turned my attention to her," I wanted to ask him about my injury, to see how long it would take to heal and how to take care for it, before I left and possibly to see about Chance's injury as well."

Another Mightyena nearby relayed my message to her and then she spoke to them, but never left my gaze. A chuckle ran trough the crowd which terrified me, _what did she say? Is she going to kill us? Is that amusing?_

"She said 'Why go to Nokto? He knows nothing of medicine or treatment. He would be as useless to you as prey with no meat.' "

"Oh, I-I-I guess I should have known since he b-brought you to wrap my leg instead of doing it h-h-himself. He was just... just the only one I-I really knew enough to ask f-for help," I stuttered clumsily through my sentence, still mortified by all the flashing fags nearby, ready at a seconds notice to rip my throat out and eat my bones. _I don't think she believes me.. _"Uhm... and I-I wanted to say goodbye. To him. I didn't get proper chance to." _What a lie_, I thought. _Well... it's partially true, I didn't get to say a proper goodbye. But, then again, that is so not why I'm here._

Once the message was translated, she stared at me silently before speaking again. Her voice was strong and sweet, while her language was complex and mysterious. Once she was finished speaking to me, she stood up and turned to her pack and silently blended back within them. Before disappearing completely, she turned to me one last time and said something, obviously I didn't know what but it sounded kind of hurtful. With that she disappeared behind the infinite pair of red eyes.

A Mightyena then broke the silence," She said 'You should have taking Tusma's warning and left. You must have luck to not be dead already. You should count your blessings and leave before it runs out.' Then she told you that Nokto is here now, if he wanted to see you, he would have saved you." Then all at once, the pack turned and to walk away; as some walked by their sharp, jagged fur brushed on me, sending shivers down my spine.

They left us there alone, with no answers or help. _Better than dying_, I thought grimly. I turned to Chance and the others with a smile," Why don't we move on? Shall we?," I gestured casually in the direction we has previously been running.

"Violet?," Theresa spoke up from behind Jack.

"Hmm"

"One didn't leave," she whispered terrified, her eyes big and round with fear.

Slowly I turned around, to see a lone Mightyena standing in the brush outside the clearing. He stood there with his chest puffed out, looking as arrogant as always, I had nothing to say to him now. I no longer gave a rats ass.

"Where?," I looked past him, acting as if her were invisible. "I don't see anybody. No one at all," I spoke with an abrupt icy tone, sending my message of angst. "Let's just get out of here," I mutter, turning to walk away.

"Wait!," his voice rang out.

Before I could snarl my response, surprisingly, Jack stepped in, "No, we cannot wait. We have wasted too much time here already," with that he turned his back to the Mightyena.

"Just let me explain," he begged.

"No," I retorted simply. "Obviously, you have nothing to say or you would have spoken up sooner. In front of your tribe!"

"How was I supposed to know why you had come back, Violet!," he snapped. " I told you to...," his eyes danced from me to Chance,"... I told you to leave and never come back, yet here you are."

"I came back here for information Nokto, not for some petty fight."

"Excuse me," he retorted," for not reading your mind."

Behind me, I heard Chance growl in the back of his throat, I knew he was getting irritated with the conversation in progress.

"Look, Nokto," I sighed," How do I take care of this cast and when do I take it off."

He turned his head slightly, ears perked," What's the magic word?"

This time I growled and spoke through gritted teeth," Please."

He smiled cooly," Just keep it clean, rest as much as possible. Take it off in a few weeks, you should be healed by then."

I took a deep breath, not for relief, but for patience," And Chance?," I asked," Please?"

Nokto took a step towards me," The next chance you get, wash the bite. Keep it clean. It will most likely scar, but otherwise it should heal over time," he spoke softly, no longer angry. "I'm sorry," he looked sincere, his eyes were wide and clear, " to all of you," he looked to my friends.

I felt shitty, _why does this always happen! I'm so rude to Nokto. We just need to get far away, far far away._

"It's okay," Theresa squeaked from behind me, "No harm. No foul."

Nokto smiled at that, flashing his deadly white fangs, but her turned solemn again looking to Chance," I'm sorry to you the most, Chance." He spoke with genuine apologeticness, he really did feel bad...for everything.

Chance didn't speak, he just gave a slight nod, sort of like making amends. I rolled my eyes, _Boys._

"It's all forgotten and forgiven," I told him, he moved his gaze back to me, "Thank you, Nokto."

"For what?"

"Saving him," I whispered," and saving me. I can never repay you enough," I looked down.

"It's all forgotten," he spoke with a smile, I looked up at him and he gave me a sly wink. "Don't be a stranger around these parts, all of you."

"Thank you," I said again, before turning around I reached out and gave a quick hug before retreated to my own pack. " See you around," and with that we all turned from the lone Mightyena sitting in the clearing.

Chance walked next to me and smiled, "What?," I was confused.

"I just love you, sometimes," he laughed.

"Sometimes?!," I questioned with false outrage and with that he licked my nose and I squealed with disgust and delight. He ran ahead and then crouched down, barking playfully. I yelped back in response and he continued barking, I hobbled after him but I knew he could outrun me en if I didn't have a cast on.

He walked over to me with his tongue out, glowing with the pride of his victory of escaping me. We linked tails and continued walking down the path, further and further away from Nokto, further away from Mt. Frolic, and further away from the hunters.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a few days seen we had the altercation with Mightyena, but I would let it damper the mood of adventure. I was almost paralyzed with excitement to be so far from everything I knew. Of course, it was also terrifying, but I was focusing on the positive side like the fact we had almost reached the end of the forest. Through the gaps of the trees you could see the peaks in the distance: tall , white, and dangerous.

Night was falling quickly, but Jack was determined to reach the forest's end before nightfall. He wanted to get an early start on the mountain so we wouldn't have to sleep on the frosty peak, It made sense.

"You seem awfully cheerful, little Violet," Jack said to me as we walked through the fading woods.

"Why wouldn't I be," I giggled. " We are on this awesome adventure, I survived death twice so far, and we haven't seen the hunters since-"

"SHHHH!," Jack interrupted me. "Don't jinx this! We've been going solid for a week without a sign, I don't want to jinx this good luck," with that he glanced behind his shoulder now stricken with paranoia.

I rolled my eyes, "Calm down! I bet they are still back at my mountain, waiting for you to appear, each day pulling their hair out with frustration." I smirked," and the best part is that Mienshao is probably wallowing in her own filth, miserable."

He snorted a laugh too," I guess we all need to look at the bright side."

The thought of my mountain gave me a twinge of guilt, I missed my family, mostly my sisters. I wish I cold talk to Jade about everything that had happened and get her opinion. Just to talk to someone who know me, who has known me all my life, Jade knew me better than I knew myself. I missed little Scarletts hugs and her laughter that rang through the air like tiny happy bells. _I wonder if the miss me? I bet Jade does sometimes, and maybe sometimes Scarlett asks about me! I wonder where they told her I went? _Now it was my turn to glance behind us, grieving for my past. _There's no point, _I told myself_. Someday you'll go back and show them that you made it on the outside. Someday..._

Around us the trees with becoming few and far between, giving us less and less shelter against the whipping wind. The sun was falling fast, glowing brightly with the last rays of daylight before slipping under the horizon.

"We should probably find shelter for the night," Chance called to us above the wind," We wont be able to keep a fire lit and I'm already freezing!"

"He's right," Theresa said.

We all turned to Jack, whose face was stern and tight, "If we do this, there will be no complaining about getting up early! Got it?"

We all agreed and started to scour the area for a temporary shelter. I looked everywhere, all I found was a whole in a tree no bigger than my head.

"Find anything?," Chance asked.

"Nope, not unless you can climb a tree," I replied.

"I guess that means were just going to have to make some sacrifices," he sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're going to have to snuggle through the night to keep warm. It'll be hard, but I'm willing to endure it for the night."

"I don't know," I say sarcastically," I don't think I can do it, I don't want to make things awkward, you know?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, but it's just this one time so we don't freeze."

"Ehhh... okaaay," I agree with fake reluctance," Just this **ONE** time."

"Yeah, it'll just be a one time thing. No big deal," he winked.

We were ready to wrap ourselves into a big leaf for the night when Theresa rushes towards us. "I found it! Come on! Look, look, look!," She shouts dragging me through the brush.

"What are you talking about!?"

"Just look," she lets go of me and smiles triumphantly. I see a pile large rocks with an opening at the base just sitting in the middle of the woods.

"I dunno, I mean, look at it!," I say trying to point out its' obviousness.

"I know!," she screams giddily," It's perfect!"

I turn to Chance," You don't think it's just a little... I don't know, a little out of place? It's a pile of giant rocks in the forest. Not just small forest rocks, these are GIANT mountain rocks."

"Maybe," he considered it," but then again, maybe not. It could be abandoned and Theresa is right: it's perfect."

Theresa squealed with delight at the praise, when Jack came through the brush. He looked a the structure u and down, "Nice, It should do for the night."

Everyone started to walk towards the entrance while I stood there in shock. _Are they stupid?_ _This is someone's home! Or even a trap!_

"What if the person who lived here comes back and kills us!"

Jack stops and turns to look at me, " Don't be ridiculous, we'll be fine. If you're that scared Violet, your welcome to sleep outside." As he said it, the wind picked up, sending a chill deep within me.

"If we die, I'm blaming you, " I mumbled retreating into the den.

It was fairly large on the inside with ample room to move and stretch out. Looking around, I saw that there were no personal touches to the place. No bed, bowls, no anything; all that resided in the room was a small pile of dry wood in the corner. _If someone does live here, they aren't really living._

Theresa could the worried look on my face, tried to comfort me, " Hey, don't worry. At least we'll be warm and safe AND you will get some alone time with Chance," she winked.

_Yeah, okay. This is alone? _" Yeah, thanks Theresa."

She smiled warmly and went to see if Jack needed any help with making a fire, in no time we had a bright flame lighting up the cave. All of us huddled around the fire laughing and joking with each other. Outside, we heard the wind howl furiously, but we didn't care we were happy, safe, and warm.

"So..," Theresa said with a sly smile, "Let's get real personal."

When she said it, I was a little off put. _Did she mean like physical or just emotional? Either way I was not loving this idea._

"What do you mean?" Chance asked.

" I mean, let's just get real. If we are all traveling together, we should get to know each other, right?," she looked around the circle.

"I guess," Jack replied glumly, also not loving the idea of getting personal.

"Okay, okay, okay!," Theresa was shaking with enthusiasm," Let's see... What's a good question?... OH, I GOT IT!," she shouted. Her voice echoed off the walls, "Opps," she giggled," Sorry."

"What's the question," I asked her, genuinely curious.

"Okay, Well it's not really a question, you just kind of go around the circle and formally introduce yourself. You know: name, type, species; but were going to take it a step farther," She beamed. "We also need to include our power level and our attack moves. I'll go first, obviously my name is Theresa and I'm a Victini. I'm a fire/ physhic type, a Victory Pokémon at level 21. I'm actually really proud of that, even though it's not too high, but I'm still traveling and working on it. Currently, my moves include: Searing Shot, Incinerate, Confusion and Endure. I'm really pumped to grow and gain new techniques and moves! It's just too bad I'll never evolve, but that wont stop me from growing," she finished, turning to Jack.

Jack cleared his throat, raising his head from the ground," I'm not going to say my name or type, we all know this. Well... I'm a Fire Horse Pokémon, my level is...Hmm, I'm a level...," he paused concentrating," Chance, I can't remember am I a level 37 or 39. It's killing me, I can't remember."

Chance tilted his head, closing one eye, I'm pretty sure your a level 39, but I may be wrong... Yeah, 39. I'm pretty positive."

"Level 39! Thank you! God, it was killing me! Okay, Whew, I'm a level 39. I'm pretty pumped about it, one more level and I can evolve into Rapidash. Right now I can do: Inferno, Fire spin, Agility and Stomp... and yeah, Violet?"

Six eyes turned to me, waiting for me to speak. "Ohh... well, I'm kind of embarrassed," I confess.

"We won't laugh," Theresa pipes up, "Come on, tell us!"

Jack shoots her a look, then nudges me, " No judging. Besides, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, everyone develops at different speeds, especially some species. Me, we develop Medium Fast," Jack looks to Chance and I follow, looking at Chance too.

"Absolutely, Growltihe's? We develop at a slow rate, it's crazy! For me to be where I am, took some serious training! And everyone starts on level 1, so how can anyone judge someone else's level status," Chance shrugged.

"Exactly!," Jack chimed in.

"I guess, " I mutter, I take a deep breath. "Well... Im Violet a Vulpix, Fox Pokémon. I-I-I'm a level 15," I look down bashfully.

"REALLY?!," Theresa asks.

I didn't look up, but I guessed that Chance and Jack gave her the dirtiest looks, because she defended herself.

"That's not what I meant! What I meant to say, was that I'm surprised, BUT NOT IN THE BAD WAY," she rushed," I mean, Violent... I've known you the longest out of everyone here. You've always been so passive and secretive, I didn't expect you to be advanced! You've lived on that mountain on ALL your life, never leaving, most pokemon who don't travel never really advance, but you... that's amazing!"

I looked up slowly," You really think so?," I whisper.

"Oh I know so, Vi. I've traveled around, but that's the only reason I've grown, if I would have stayed on Liberty Island, I would still be a level 7!," she laughed. I started to laugh, and before I knew it we were all laughing.

I looked around at my friends, _It's not that bad_, I tell myself. _It's not like I'm stuck on level 15 for the rest of my life. _"I'm a level 15 and I am embarrassed about it. To me, it's really low and I hate it! My moves are: Baby-Doll eyes, Ember, Sunny Day, and Fire Spin."

"Sunny Day?," Chance questioned

"Oh.. It was TM from my dad, a birthday present. Its just boosts my moves and then lowers my opponents, " I tell them.

"I've never heard of that before," Theresa confesses. "It's cool and its got a nice name: Sunny Day."

This time all heads turn to Chance, who chuckles nervously," Hi.." He clears his throat and begins," Chance. Fire Type. Puppy Pokémon. I'm a level 41 and I can do: Helping Hand, Retaliate, Flamethrower, and Heat wave. I can't really evolve without a fire stone, and that sucks. That's me... so, yeah."

"This was really fun," Theresa says, "I'm glad we did it!"

"Me too," I say, but not sarcastically, I meant it.

"Let's call it a night," Jack says standing up, "Were getting up early tomorrow and there will be no whining!," he retreated to a corner of the den and lied down, closing his eyes. Theresa went over to her bag and hooped inside, getting cozy before turning her head away from us.

I didn't move, I was already snuggled up to Chance, warm and drowsy. I yawned and looked up at him, "Remember, this is just a one night thing," and smiled. He chuckled and licked me on the cheek saying, "How could I forget?," before laying down beside me. I smiled, happy with my life, _things couldn't get better._

* * *

**I hate to mention it, but don't forget to review! :D**

**I don't want reviews for like a confidence boost or anything, but just to make sure my writing is still good and to make sure the story isn't going to shit. You know? So, tell me what you like AND what you hate. Sorry, but Thank You!**


	15. Chapter 15

Something stirred beside me, waking me slightly from my pleasant dream. I slowly opened my eyes to the darkness around me, panic enveloped me, _where am I? _My eyes adjusted to the cave, a fire pit in front of me, Jack in the Corner snoozing softly, and Theresa snoring loudly in her bag. _Oh...the cave. Right._ I put my head down, closing them drowsily then rolled over to snuggle up to Chance but there was nothing there. My head shot up so fast, and looked at the spot where Chance hould have been and how it was bare. My ears perked to hear even the slightest sound, my nose sniffing for his scent, I scanned the cave, but he wasn't here.

I ran to the entrance of the cave, sniffing, following his sweet smell of pine cones. I was ready to run out into the darkness of the night to find him, but saw him sitting at the edge of the woods. I took a sigh of relief and annoyance, _one of these days I'm gonna have a heart attack! _

The wind blew slightly, sending a chill down my spine; I wanted to go back inside and snuggle up to a warm fire, but I stepped outside in to the cold night. If Chance heard me coming, he didn't show it at all, he just sat there looking into the dark trees. I sat down beside him looking at him then turning to look into the forest, all I saw was trees and bushes blowing in the breeze of the night.

I turn to Chance again confused, "Hey there..."

"I thought I heard something," he spoke softly, never turning his head to me.

"Oh.. something like Hunters?"

"Something...," he said," I don't know what, but something."

"You don't think we've lost them, do you?"

"No. I don't. I think these are professionals, they'll find us, it's only a matter of time," he said so monotone I was slightly surprised. This whole time when he acted cool and calm he was really panicking about being caught.

"Oh, Chance," my heart swooned for him," I wish you wouldn't worry so much," when I said that he finally turned to look at me. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown, they were so wide and eager, he wanted to believe we would all be okay but I knew he would always worry. I wished I could take the burden away and help him but there was nothing I could do.

"Do you want to go back to sleep? We have to get up in a few hours and I-"

"Shh," he hushed me, perking his ears.

I just sat there quietly, with a sad smile on my face. _I love you_, I thought to myself. I wasn't scared of something coming out of the woods, I thought we lost the Hunters. Jack had always been so careful to cover the trail and lead them the wrong way on different trails, I had confidence in him.

After a few more minutes of complete silence in the woods, I stood up and walked to the cave," I'm going to go back to sleep, buuuutt it would be a lot easier if I had someone to cuddle up with," I spoke suggestively. I turned and saw Chance was still looking into the darkness of the night but after a second he stood and turned to me.

I smiled," Come on, grumpy growltihe."

I watched him walk to me, something flashed in the background of my vision. This time my ears perked and I peered past Chance into the trees, searching for what had caused the disturbance in my vision. Chance noticed my change in attentiveness and looked to the trees too, with ears perked, listening.

"Did you see something?"

"I thought I saw something," I took a step closer to the tree line. "I just can't see anything..," I say to myself. I look back at Chance and give an evil smile," Brace yourself."

He started to say something but I was already concentrating on my inner energy, summoning the light from inside me. Since it was night time, I had to really focus; without the help of the sun, I would have to make my own light. I kept building it, concentrating it all into a ball in my stomach until the power became too overwhelming. I opened my mouth and the light escaped, brighter than the sun for a split second lighting up the entire clearing. I could now see into the woods with the "sun" shinning high and that's when I saw it. A tail. In an instant it had vanished from sight, but it had been there.

"There! There, Chance! I see it," I shout turning to him. He was sitting behind me blinking rapidly with a dazed look on his face. _Oh brother!_

I was still holding on to the light, slowly I let it go, which made the darkness consume us again. Since the "sun" was gone, it looked like night again and Chance was waiting for his eyes to adjust.

"What the hell was that!," he blurted.

"Sunny Day," I sat down in front of him," Can you see now?," I waved my paw in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, it just-it just got me off guard is all," he said, still blinking.

"I told you to brace yourself," I defended myself.

"Yeah, but not what to brace myself for! I had no idea what you were talking about!," he retorted angrily rubbing his eyes.

I took a step back, _Chance has never spoke like that to me. _"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

Chance took a deep breath," No, I'm sorry. It's just that... that really surprised me," he chuckled weakly. He looked at me and smiled," No harm, I can see." He stepped forward and nuzzled his snout into my shoulder, I snuggled into his warm soft yellow fur, wrapping myself in his warmth.

He stepped back and looked at me" You saw something?"

"Yeah, I saw a tail."

Chance's eyes widened," What kind of tail?! Was it like a Mienshao?"

"No. No Chance, it wasn't her. The tail was large and yellow with a red color on the end, it wasn't her," I assured him.

His eyes returned to a normal size while he considered the possibilities of the identity of the tail.

"Did you see anything else?" he asked me.

"No, all I saw was the tail."

"Could it have been an Eevee?"

"No... this tail was yellow, not brown."

"Flareon?"

I thought about it," Yeah, maybe. What do you think it's doing?"

"That's what I want to find out."

A laugh rang through the air, making the hair on my back stand up. I turned to the source and saw a pair of red eyes glowing at me from beyond the tree line. They weren't angry or happy, just a pair emotionless eyes Chance lowered his head, behind in the air, snarling at the eyes. _Who is that?_ I was so curious, but also scared, _This could be any pokemon, Violet! It may be ale to kill you right now!_

I found my voice and spoke out to the red eyes," Who are you?"

The shrieking laugh pierced the air again, making me shiver then a solemn voice floated over the wind," Since you know I'm here, should I reveal myself?" It was a male, I didn't doubt that, but the voice sounded muffled and odd.

Chance spoke through gritted teeth," As long as you mean no harm to us!"

"I mean no more harm to you as you mean to me," it replied and this time I heard an accent to his voice.

"Okay...," I wasn't sure if that meant he was a danger or harmless," come out."

The red eyes that were once level with me, rose higher to the trees. _He must have been crouching_, I thought. Even though the creature had stood up, it made no movement forward to us.

I looked back and Chance," Come here and stop growling. He thinks you're a threat."

"I am a threat. I need to be ready in case he attacks."

"Please come sit with me, Chance," I widened my eyes to look big and innocent. He sighed and slumped over to me unhappily. "Thank you," I whisper to him. He was still rigid an tense, ready to fight, but on the outside he looked calm and patient.

The towering red eyes, drew closer coming into the clearing showing us it's face and body. It stood on 2 black legs with yellow fur covering his stomach and tail, he also had a white mane and with arms. His face was sharp with a pointed snout, it was also a snow white which contrasted with his deep red eyes. His ears really caught my attention, they were yellow like his stomach but had brilliantly wild orange fur coming out of them.

_It definitely looks like a fox_, I thought. "Hi...," I tried to fill the awkward silence lingering in the air.

"Hey, mate," he spoke with a thick accent on his words.

Chance hadn't moved, he was still tense and on edge," Hi, I'm Violet," I told the stranger. "I'm a Vulpix." I know I sounded stupid but I hoped he would then ay his name and what he was.

He laughed," I can see that with my own eyes, Sheila. Name's Singe, a Braixen."

_A Braixen? Oh.. No idea what that is...just stay quiet about it. Remember when Nokto got really upset when I didn't know he was a Mightyena. Better just keep this to myself._

Chance growled next to me and I nudged him gently.

"I'm Chance," he said through his bared teeth.

"Well aren't you just a pleasant bloke," he snickered to himself, "Well now that these introductions are done, are you going to attack me?," he crossed his arms.

I turned to Chance who looked like he just might pounce, but before he could I spoke up," No. We don't want to fight."

"Speak for yourself," he grumbled.

"So... You're just out here watching us...?," I say loudly covering up his mumble, but at the same time not trying to sound rude. I wanted to know what he was doing and what he wanted without there being a battle.

"Actually yeah, I am. You see, this is my den," he pointed behind us," I was just coming home when I saw the lot of you laying around, I was about to attack, you know? To mark my territory when this bloke," Singe jabbed his finger at Chance," started to wake up so I ran. Not out of fear, just to be cautious."

"Why run? We would have just talked it out with you and most likely left the cave before dawn."

"I'm sure that would be your plan, ankle biter, but I know his type. Attack the first chance they get," he spat. "Now, I don't want trouble. I just want to sleep in my den. I've been out all night."

"Of course! How can we deny you your own home?," I chuckled nervously.

"Wait," Chance spoke up," Maybe we should wake the others and leave, if he thinks that low of us, why not just leave on peaceful terms."

"That's a plan, but I'm not rude enough to kick a lady out in the middle of the night with nowhere to go. You on the other hand are welcome to sleep outside," he grinned.

The wind picked up causing me to shiver," Can we discuss t-this inside?," I asked, my teeth chattering.

"I agree with Bluey here, it's freezing!," he walked toward the entrance of the cave.

Chance growled but let him pass us, then we turned to follow him into the den where the wind would no longer find us.


	16. Chapter 16

In the cave I went to the fire pit and blew embers into it, creating a nice toasty fire. Chance went to Jack and woke him up, informing him of our guest. _Technically, were his guest. This is his home, _I thought.

Singe walked right in and sat by the now blazing fire, staring into the flames intently. I didn't question what he was doing, instead I went to wake Theresa.

"Theresa," I shook her bag, but only her snoring answered me. "THERESA!," I said loudly and she jolted awake, wiping the drool from her face.

"What," she asked drowsily, eyes half open.

"We have company here."

Her eyes shot open and she struggled to get out of her bag. She finally tipped the bag over, causing her to stumble out onto the cold floor. Quickly, she stood up smiling, like everyone was watching her when in reality only I had saw.

"Company?" She asked me.

"Yeah," I stepped out of the way so she could see the Braixen sitting by the fire. Her eyes where round and shinny reflecting the flames, her mouth opened slightly.

"Oh...," was all she said.

"Well, were about to talk to him, do you want to join?"

"Yeah, just let me get ready. Can't let Jack see me without my face," she finally tore her gaze from Singe and started digging in her backpack.

Jack and Chance were now sitting across from Singe, none of them talked, they all just sat quietly. I rolled my eyes, _How did boy ever have war councils? They must of had woman there to get them to start talking. _I walked over and sat by Chance, he looked down at me and smiled.

"Aww, young love," Singe spoke," Nothing is as sweet," he smiled kindly.

"Thank you," I blushed. _Was it that obvious? _"Oh.. I'm really sorry we barged in on your home! I **told them** that someone had to live here."

Theresa skipped over,"Yeah, you did say that, but this was the best shelter! It looked totally abandoned, by the way," she turned to Singe," You may want to add a personal touch to show that this place actually had an inhabitant," she sat down by Jack.

"I'll put in on the top of my to-do list, mate," he turned to the group of us," Well, for the two who don't know me, I'm Singe."

"I'm Theresa and this pony boy is Jack," she looked to him with big gleaming eyes. Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance, but stayed silent.

"So, ya'll traveling in couples?," Singe asked, raising his eyebrows

I turned to Jack, his mane was starting to flare higher and his face was tight and serious, before a blood vessel blew I spoke for them," No. No, the only couple here is Chance and I," I reassured him.

"Okay, well... What do ya'll want to know? I'm an open book, ready for your questions."

No one spoke. The cave echoed the sound of the crackling fire and outside the wind howled against the trees. _I will never understand boys, I swear! I hate this silence! Say something. Say something._

"How long have you lived here," I blurted, breaking the icy stillness in the room.

Slowly Singe turned to me," It's been about a year now, it's a good sturdy home," he smiled looking at the walls. "I'm happy with how good it's been to me."

"Does someone live you," Theresa piped up.

"No," he replied, "I live here alone."

"How did you make this cave," She asked full of wonder.

"Interesting story," he crossed his legs. " I was traveling with a Probopass and I liked the spot, next to the river in the woods and by the mountains. I mean, it was just the perfect place, so I had him help build me this cave before he continued on his journey."

"Why didn't he stay?," Theresa pried.

"I asked him to, but he had his own adventure he was still chasing. I do admit, it gets kinda lonely living alone, but not many people live around here," he sighed.

"Have you ever been a pet?," I asked him.

He slowly met my eyes,"Yes. I was a pet once." He didn't seem into sharing so I wasn't going to pry into the details.

"Why haven't you left this place to find a better one?," Theresa piped in again.

"I've been wanting too," he admitted," but traveling alone is a challenge and it's not fun."

The room grew quiet again, so I spoke up again," Do you have any questions for us? I mean, we did intrude your home, do you have anything to ask?"

Chance and Jack both turned to look at me, upset I had offered us all up to be questioned, but it was a fair question. Singe clasped his paws together, thinking for a bit before he said," Where did you all come from?"

"I'm from Mt. Frolic," I said, "my friends are all travelers, but this is my first adventure."

"Well, that's exciting. I would have thought you would have been around more, especially with that special move you pulled out there tonight."

"Oh.. no. I just received that TM as a gift."

"Oh.. Well, the first trip is the best," he smiled," as long as you keep the right company, which you don't seem to be lacking in."

I blushed because I knew he was talking about Chance and about our young love. "I'm sorry my friends are so shy around new people," I spoke referring to Jack and Chance.

"I'm not shy," Chance stated "I'm cautious."

Singe acted like he hadn't heard Chance," It's okay. Some people take time to adjust, I'm not offended."

"You seemed to be earlier," I squeaked.

"Hmm?"

"Well, you seemed to not... well, you seemed to despise Chance," I said.

"Oh.. yeah that. I've had a pesky past with packs of Growlithes, they tracked me for a while almost ate me alive. That's when Probopass saved my life, so we became pals," Singe turned to Chance," I'm sorry, mate, if I came out that I didn't like you. You seem like a nice enough bloke as they come, protecting your girl and your friends."

Before Chance could speak up, Theresa butted in with a stupid question," What is your accent? It's been killing me, where is it from?"

"Oh," Singe chuckled," Yeah my accent. I wouldn't really know, my Oldies had it and then I got stuck with it. Hearing human languages it sounds very Australian, but in Pokémon terms, I wouldn't know."

"It's beautiful."

"Thank you, ma'am. So.. do you guys know where your going to?," Singe turned to Jack and Chance.

"Over the mountain," Jack said.

"Tomorrow?," Singe spurted, surprised.

"Yes, that's the plan," Jack replied. "Why?"

"It's just.. there is going to be a huge blizzard on the mountains tomorrow, crossing them would be... it'd be suicide!"

"How do you know?," Chance asked, intrigued.

"I've lived here for over a year," Singe stated," I know. I can feel it coming, it's like a 6th sense. One month it got so bad, I had to cover the entrance o the den before it hit."

"It came all the way over here!," Theresa exclaimed.

"Yeah, sometimes. My advice, go around the back way, the peak will be too hard to navigate."

"The back way?," Jack asked.

"Yeah, way back when, Digletts made a tunneling system in the mountain for Humans trying to strike gold. I discovered them a few months back, they lead straight through the mountains."

"Would you guide us there?!," Theresa blurted wide eyed.

Singe looked at her and smiled," I'd be happy to, Sheila...as long as it doesn't make the rest of you uncomfortable."

"I'm okay with it," I said, glancing to Chance.

"Sure, it would be good to have someone with us who knows the mountains," Chance said thinking his words out carefully.

"If you can get us through the mountains in one piece, I don't care," Jack chuckled.

"Alright. It's settled," Singe sighed with a smile. He seemed cheerful, happy to be able to help us with our quest. I like him, he seemed sincere and down to earth, Chance on the other hand was hesitant but I wasn't surprised.

Singe yawned," I'm going to hit the sack," he retreated to empty corner and curled up.

"Let's all get a few more hours of sleep in," Jack spoke, stretching like a cat. He then stood up, shook his mane sending embers in all directions, then crawled back to his own space.

Theresa just sat there for a moment more before she scampered back to her bag, giggling with excitement.

Chance turned to face me and before he spoke I pressed me lips to his. Chance didn't even question me, he just kissed me back eagerly and happily. He had been a real gentlemen tonight and I wanted to thank him. I loved him so much, the emotion overwhelmed me sometimes and Chance was just the outlet I needed. Our tongues danced together, releasing my anxiety and calming my mind from all that had happened in the night.

He broke the kiss and smirked at me, "What?," I asked, nervously self-conscious about myself. _I bet I smell horrendous! And my teeth probably reek! EW! I should have planned ahead for this. Oh god, I'm disgusting! My fur is tangled and matted with sticks stuck in it. My tails need to be combed and groomed, I'm just a mess!_

All he said was," I love you," before pressing his lips back to me, making me forget all my insecurities. _I love you too!_


	17. Chapter 17

I woke up with the sun streaming through the mouth of the cave onto my face. I opened my eyes to the hurtful rays, _The light! It burns!_ I rolled over rubbing my eyelids, _I guess we all overslept_, I thought. I stretched and yawned, still not fully awake, I just wanted to curl back u to Chance and go to sleep.

I looked at him, he was snoring lightly and spread out on the floor still cradling the spot where I had slept with his paws. I smiled at the sight, _he is too adorable!_

As I peered around the cave, everyone was still snoozing in their corners. _Maybe I can find breakfast_, and right on cue, my stomach growled. I skipped out of the cave and saw that the woods looked a little haggard; trees were slightly bents and there were whole branches ripped off the trunks. _I can't believe we all slept through that!_

I strolled along the path, looking at the damage the wind storm had done to this once beautiful wooded area. I remembered that singe said no one had lived nearby which was surprises since the area was once so gorgeous. I raised my snout in the air and took a big whiff, hoping to smell some berries, nuts or anything really. Nothing. The place was bare, N_o wonder no one lived here,_ I thought.

A deep bark rang through the air, I turned behind me, where the noise came from. _Chance. Shit! I didn't tell anyone I was leaving! _I yelped back at him, trying to tell him I was safe and on my way back. When I entered the clearing, he saw me and ran.

He jumped on me, knocking me onto the ground," Are you okay? Safe? Did someone take you? Where were you? Are you hurt?!"

"My head hurts," I say dazed by the impact.

Chance unpins me and helps me up," Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say shaking my head, "Oh Chance, I'm sorry. I should have told you I was going. I wanted to go get breakfast for everyone, you know. like a surprise, but there is no food around here. At all!"

Chance just hugs me," I'm glad your okay, I was so close to blaming Singe for your disappearance," he squeezed me tighter.

"Oh... well I'm fine, just hungry, dirty, and in need of a bath," I giggle.

"Me too," he sighed, linking our tails before guiding me back to the den.

"I found her!," he called, his voice echoed off the walls.

Looking around, everyone was awake and hustling around packing their bags and preparing for our departure. Theresa dropped her bag and sprinted to me," Oh Violet!," she hugged me tightly," You had us all worried! Even Singe was concerned. Where did you go?," She stepped back and put her paws on her hips.

"I-I-I just went to go get f-food," I struggle to explain, everything seemed to be happening at once.

"Oh," she dropped her paws," Did you find any, because I'm starving!"

"No, there is no food around here! I was hoping we have some stored for the trip into the mountains."

"Excuse me," Singe walked over," I couldn't help but overhear, Sheila. But I had that problem myself when I first moved out here, No food around here for what seems like miles. So, I made myself a garden, its nothing big but it does have food. We can collect some and then head out?"

"Wow! A garden, that's amazing! Most males refuse to do gardening," Theresa's eyes gleamed with admiration.

"That sounds perfect," I tell him.

We gather our bags and follow singe down to his garden, the whole way Theresa yammers on about him.

"He is so dreamy," she swoons.

"What happened to Jack?"

"He still there, in my mind, but is obvious he doesnt feel the same," she drops her head.

"Well... yeah. But just because he doesn't like you doesn't mean you should jump to the next guy!"

"Well, not everyone is lucky enough to find their true love the first time!," she retorted.

"Theresa... I-" I was shocked at her outburst.

"No, don't say it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, but it's just hard. I've been putting my energy into Jack for weeks with nothing to show for it... it just sucks."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You'll find Mr. Right, he's out there," I reassure her.

"Yeah... maybe he's closer than we think," she smiles, looking head at Singe.

I roll my eyes and smile," Maybe," I pause, hearing the sound crashing water" Do you hear that?"

Theresa listens," Yeah... sounds like water?"

Ahead of us Singe jumps down out of sight, I freeze. _Did he fall? Where did he go?_

"C'mom, mates." he calls from below.

I peer over the edge, its about a 30 foot drop to where Singe is standing. _Oh no_, I step back quickly for fear of falling. "Isn't there a path that leads there?," I ask.

"No. You'll be fine I'll catch you," he calls.

Chance and Jack turn to each other, unsure of whether or not to trust Singe. Before I muster up the courage to jump, Theresa bolts past me, flying into the air, falling down. I gasp and go to grab her, but Chance pulls me back from falling over the edge.

We all held our breath, waiting for a sign that she was okay. I was praying that she made it safely, but all that answered my prayer was silence.

"It's easier than it looks," I hear her call up to us.

I blew my breath out, _Thank goodness._

"No point in delaying this," Jack mumbles. He ran to the edge and disappeared from my view, moments later we heard the thud of his body landing on the ground.

"All good," he yells to us.

"Chance... I'm scared," I confess, never looking away from the ledge and the doom it held.

"Don't be. We can jump together, okay?"

I shook my head violently, heights were not something I was fond of. They were scary and I had known many people on my mountain who had fallen to their deaths because of their lack of safety.

"1...2...," Chance counted down. I shut my eyes and started to run with him,"..3." We jumped and I felt the wind rushing past my face. I wanted to scream but I couldn't breath, there was no air, I felt like I was suffocating. Then as quickly as it began, it was over. I could once again feel the soft dirt under my paws, signaling that we were safely on the ground. I opened my eyes and saw Singe looking at me.

"No so bad, was it Bluey?"

"No..," I said shakily," It was worse."

He chuckled," We'll were here, there are no more jumps," he grinned.

I let go of Chance, he didn't look scared or shaken like I did. _Lucky_, I thought.

"Wow," I heard Theresa say." This garden is beautiful!"

I turn to see what she was seeing, and I agreed, the garden was breath taking. There were rows of fruits and vegetables then beside them were rows of flowers and herbs. I had never seen a garden so extravagant and luscious. It was right next to the smooth flowing river, it looked like a scene you might see in a dream.

Singe began picking out vegetables and putting them into Theresa's bag, counting them out. Then he crossed over to the fruits and did the same, placing them carefully within pouches so they wouldn't bruise. He did the same with all our packs, filling them with food and herbs.

While the rest of us ate the left over food in the garden, Singe placed a white flower in his own backpack.

"What's that," I asked him while munching on a savory carrot.

He didn't look at me, but continued to stare at the white petal of the small flowers," It's a stephanotis," he stated simply. "They are known to bring good luck, I always bring it with me when I travel away from home."

"It's so pretty," Theresa noted. " I wish I had one!"

He chuckled softly and pulled one of the small flower from the plant and walked to Theresa, placing the flower behind her ear," For you, Sheila."

Theresa blushed a deep red and turned away from Singe, smiling.

Jack cleared his throat, breaking the innocence of the moment," How do we get back to the trail?," He looked up." The one up there."

Singe turned from Theresa," We have to walk the river. We wade against the river and it leads back to the higher trail."

"Now I'm excited," I walked to the river," A bath!" I was about to jump in when, I remembered my cast. Can _I get it wet? Screw it, I need to be clean._

I jumped into the water and was hit with it's icy temperature. The coldness was stunning and caught be off guard, like a thousand tin icicles were stabbing me all over my body. "AHH! It's so cold!," I stood up quickly.

Singe was howling with laughter," That's because it runs straight from the mountain!," he clutched his side, hooting with laughter.

After a few second of sitting there, the water seemed less cold and more bearable. The water wasn't too deep, just standing, it reached to my knees, it felt lovely. I dove into the depth of the stream, spinning like a Horsea, loving the feeling of the water against my fur. I scrubbed my tails against a mossy rock, trying my hardest to clean them from there tattered state. I even tried to clean my cast as best I could, but it was impossible, so I gave up.

My friends merely watched in awe as I played in the river. "What?," I asked.

"How are you just paying in water?!," Jack asked with his mouth gaped open.

"I learned to swim when I was younger, so I have a small resistance to water. C'mon guys! A little water won't kill you fire types! Plus, you all could use a scrubbing," I laughed diving make into the water.

One by one, they piled into the frigid river, surprised by it's frosty temperature. We splashed and ran in the water, laughing and making fools of ourselves. I helped Theresa clean her ears with the moss on the rock, while Chance rolled, sending water flying everywhere.

"Okay, now that we're all a little less repulsing, let's continue on our way," Jack spoke, moving up stream.

Chance and I turned to each other, I slashed him and danced away giggling. He ran after me, chasing me up the river and I was outrunning him until he pounced on me, causing my to slip and fall into the water. He stood over me smiling enthusiastically, I sat up and splashed him again. He barked happily and licked my cheek, I licked him back. We got up and went back to our herd, ready to leave the forest, travel to the mountains, and go farther than I ever thought possible.


	18. Chapter 18

Singe wasn't lying when he said there was a blizzard on the mountain! The snow was relentless, it's been like this for 3 days! I can barely see 5 feet in front of my face it's so bad. The snow keeps piling up around us, making it harder to walk but Chance was sweet enough to give Theresa a ride on his back. Jack was so frustrated with our lack of progress, we were already half way up the mountain and we still hadn't seen on of the tunnels Singe told us about. Everyday he would say we were almost there but with no luck, the cold was getting to be too much for me. I couldn't feel my feet!

"Chance," I called to him.

"Violet," he responded, next to me.

"How much longer, it's too cold! I don't know if I can walk in it anymore!," I shouted.

He yelled ahead for Jack and Singe who were navigating out the path and after a few moments they cam into sight.

"What's wrong?," Jack asked concerned.

"Everything!," Chance barked. "It's freezing! Theresa can walk in the snow anymore, Violet can barely walk and I'm exhausted. Are we near this tunnel yet?"

Jack turned to Singe, letting him answer. "We're close, mate!," he shouted over the whipping winds. "We should be there-"

Chance barked loudly, interrupting him," NO! We've been following you for 3 days! We should have reached this tunnel system by now! Wasn't the whole point of you guiding us, to **ACTUALLY** guide us to these tunnels so we **wouldn't** have to walk in the blizzard!"

"This way, mate! Were almost here!," he turned and began to walk up the mountain.

"Jack?," Chance turned to Jack," It's your call!"

"I say we follow him! We must be close by now and being alone out here we'll surely freeze!"

Chance nodded and we continued the tedious treck up the steep mountain slope. We walked for what felt like hours with the snow blowing against us, the cold was agonizing with each step. The snow was up to the nape of my and I saw Chance was struggling against the mounds of snow too. My cast was feeling like it weight 2 tons, especially since it was full of snow.

"OYY," I heard Singe in the distance ahead. "WE FOUND IT! C'MON THEN!"

I couldn't even see him, but I jumped, trying to run against the snow to get to the tunnel. I saw Chance was racing to get there too, but he had to be cautious with Theresa on his back. Trying to run made it seem like we were going slower than what we had been, but it worked because I saw Singe ahead of me. He was standing next to a hole on the side of the mountain, it was huge! I ran in, tumbling on the snow that had drifted in, but I didn't care. _Finally! We're out of the storm...finally. _

I stood and shook my fur, sending snow and ice in all directions. I saw that Jack, Singe, and Chance were inside now and they were trying to seal the entrance. _Good luck_, I thought.

Theresa was in in the middle of the path, she looked frozen in place. "Theresa?"

She just sat there shaking, either too cold to speak or her mouth was frozen shut. I looked around but there was no wood or sticks to start a fire. _I don't need wood! I'm a Fire Type! _I knelt over her and blew embers on her, watching as the ice and snow melted into water. Her teeth chattered and she wrapped her arms around herself, but I continued to blow embers to keep her warm.

"T-t-t-tha-a-ank y-y-y-you," she chattered.

"Shh," I told her," Just warm up." I went to her bag and got a potato we had brought from the garden. I ran up the path a ways and put the potato down and came back to her. "Watch this!"

I built the fire up inside me and sent out a fire spin down the tunnel, singeing the walls and charring the potato. I leapt up and got the potato and brought it back to Theresa," Here, a nice warm lunch."

"T-t-thanks Vi-iolet." she wasn't stuttering so much so I was happy. Turning to the boys, they had made no progress on closing the tunnel.

"Why don't we just move on!," I say," If we move down the tunnel there will be no more snow."

They looked at each other," Yes, let's do that!," Singe jumps at the chance to leave the snowy spot.

We grab our packs, Theresa climbs onto Chance's back, munching on her potato and we walk into the dark tunnel. The only reason I could see the path was because of Jack's flaming mane guiding the way.

"These tunnels," Chance breaks the silence," they lead through the whole mountain range?"

"In a way...They lead through each mountain that I've seen but they aren't continuous. Once we reach the end of this mountain, we have to find the tunnel on the next mountain" Singe explains.

"Sooo... when we reach the end of this tunnel, it'll be the other side of the mountain?," I asked.

"Yes. Then we'll have to go to the next mountain and find it's tunnel and I'm pretty sure it's like that on the whole range."

Then Jack spoke," Have you ever encountered any Pokémon on these mountains?"

"No, no one that I know of."

"Too bad, I really have been wanting to battle other Pokémon so I can evolve," Jack sounded disappointed.

"Mate, if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get. Let's do it!," Singe replied.

Jack stopped walking,"What? You? You want to battle me?"

"Why not? I could use a good battle, haven't done it in awhile," he grinned devilishly.

"Okay...sure, Let's do it!," Jack whinnied excitedly.

"WAIT! Now? Inside a mountain?," I interrupted. "We are literally inside a mountain and you two want to battle!?"

They looked at each other, then to me and simultaneously responded, " Yes."

"This is a horrible idea! The mountain could be damaged and tumble down on us!," I tried to convince them.

"I'll be gentle," Singe turned to Jack. Jack smirked back at his witty remark, ready to battle.

Chance put Theresa down, she was eager to see how it all played out, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Chance!?," I urged him to help me.

"Might as well let it happen. Who knows? It may be fun," He smiled.

I rolled my eyes," This is a horrible idea and if we all die, I'm blaming all of you," I mumble to myself.

Singe and Jack were now in fighting position, Jack was a few feet in front of us and Singe had gone done the tunnel a few meters to give himself room. Jack wasted no time, right away he sent out a **Fire Spin**; Singe dodged the attack and spun around sending a **Psybeam** right a Jack.

Jack didn't dodge the attack and stumbled backwards with the power of impact, he looked dazed but shook his head clearing his thoughts. Jack then used his **Agility**, boosting his speed for later attacks.

Singe then sends another** Psybeam** hitting jack full force; he was confused and tried to return with his **Stomp** move. The move backfired and he ended us hurting himself!

Singe closed his eyes and started chanting while Jack stumbled from his confusion and stars swirled around him, _He's doing** Lucky Chant**_, I thought. After he finished, he grinned happily, but Jack had shook of the confusion and in flash he had crossed the distance between them and **Stomped** on Singe with his powerful hooves. Singe was barely damaged due to his protection from Lucky Chant.

Singe was pleased by how well he was doing in the battle, you could see it from the smile on his face. Next, he started to stomp on the group, creating fire before he charged at Jack, knocking him to the ground.

Theresa yelped at the force used to knick Jack down. "Wow," I whispered," That was a great **Flame Charge**."

"This guy is good," Chance said in a hushed voice," Jack will get him, I can tell he is about to se his signature move,"he chuckled.

_Signature move?_

Jack was struggling to stand, his body was seared from the Flame Charge and he gritted his teeth from the pain. His icy blue eyes were filled with the rage of defeat, but also with confidence, like he might actually pull out a win. He bowed is head, all three of us held our breath with anticipation while Singe tilted his head curiously.

Suddenly, Singe was surrounded by balls of fire, spinning around him. He yelped with pain as the balls touched him, encasing him in flames. Singe fell to the ground writhing in pain, once his eyes closed and the fire left. Chance rain into the middle of the two contestants.

"Wow," I said again to myself, shocked by the turn of events," That was a brilliant **Inferno**!"

"AND THE WINNER IS... JACK THE PONYTA," he bellowed in his best announcer voice.

Theresa and I cheered from the sidelines and Jack strutted over to Chance and grabbed the pretend microphone from his hands," I'd like to thank my mom for this award and my best friend, Chance...Gosh, I'm tearing up. Thank you! Thank you!," he said dramatically.

As he continued his award speech, I went over to check on Singe, he was still knocked out, _Oh brother! _"Looks like we have to set up camp, guys, Since Singe is still out!"

Theresa rushed over, "Oh no! Will he be okay?!"

"I'm not a nurse, Theresa! But I'm guessing he'll be fine, he just needs to rest."

"Oh, poor Singe," She muttered stroking his burned fur.

"Okay," Jack trotted over," Let's all sleep a little, it's been a long day."


	19. Chapter 19

Singe didn't wake up the next day, or the next day, or the day after that. Jack was anxious to get moving, but there was no way to take him anywhere. He was to heavy to carry or to drag and he made no signs that he was about to wake.

"If he doesn't wake up soon, we'll have to leave," Jack snorted.

"Leave? Like leave him here...alone!?," Theresa spoke horrified by the thought.

"Yes, we will. We need to keep moving away from here, like I said early it's a long way to Qurxoon Falls and we'll never make it there alive at this pace!"

"Well...we can't just **leave him**!," Theresa whined.

"Oh yes we can," Jack said," and if he doesn't wake by tomorrow, we will."

"It's all your fault anyway, Jack! You did this to him! And all because you wanted to battle and be raise your strength!," she spat angrily at him.

"My fault?! This is my fault?! No, I refuse to take responsibility for this. It's a two way street, I didn't force him to battle, he did that on his own!"

"You didn't need to knock him out, though! If you wouldn't have done this we'd be 6 mountains away right now!"

"Not at the speed you travel," Jack muttered.

Before Theresa could give a snide comeback, I interrupted," Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Even if we wanted to leave Jack, we couldn't; Singe is the only one who knows where the tunnels are and can help get through them."

"yeaaahh," Theresa sing-songed maliciously.

"And you," I turned to her," Need to stop obsessing about Singe! It's ridiculous, he'll wake up when he wakes up. For now, leave him be!"

"Well he needs to wake up faster," Jack grumbled.

"How can we do that, wise one?," Theresa snapped at him.

"I don't know! Maybe we can wake him up with a surprise noise or something.."

"Like yelling in his ears...?" Chance asked.

"No, not like that. With a surprise...sensation," Jack smiled and walked to where Singe was laying on the floor.

"Wait... what are you doing!?," Theresa leaped to stop him but before she got there Jack had already set off a Fire spin, lighting the tunnel ablaze.

I heard a deep long howl ring in the air and saw Singe running from the flames. He wasn't watching where he was going and ran straight into Theresa! Jack released the Fire Spin and galloped gleefully to where Sine and Theresa lay on the floor. Theresa had her eyes closed and Sing was starting to stand up shakily.

"Aright! Welcome back, Singe. Glad to have you!"

"Theresa! Are you okay," I went to her side.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling," What happened?," She moaned, grabbing her head in her paws.

"Singe ran you over... on accident."

She snapped her head to see me," He woke up?"

"Yeah, he just did," I smiled.

"Do I look okay, Violet," She smoothed the fur down on her stomach.

"You look great," I giggled as she slowly stood up. We both turned to where Singe was standing with Jack.

"You know who you are?," Jack questioned him.

"Singe."

"How did you blackout?"

"A battle...with you wasn't it?"

"Yes, where are we right now?"

"In a mountain."

"Where are we going?"

"Uhmm...through the mountains?," Singe said questioning his answer.

"YES! Awesome he is good to travel. Great, let's get moving!," Jack cheered on the way to get his bag.

"Are you okay to travel?," Theresa walked over to him.

"Should be fine, not my first blackout," he winked at her.

"I could see that, you almost beat him."

"Almost is never enough," he sighed.

Theresa looked around, awkwardly trying to fill the silence between them. She looked to me and widened her eyes, asking for my help, I just shrugged and walked away. _That is all you_, I thought. _If you want him, you have to talk to him._

"Grab you bags, let's go," Chance bellowed backing out of our "campsite".

Walking through the tunnel now, it was different. Jack used to be silent and cold to Singe, but now he laughed and talked with him about the battle. The mood was happier and it seemed like we made it to the end of the tunnel in no time. The wind howled outside the opening, I shivered just thinking about walking in it.

"We can make it down by nightfall," Jack said confidently, leading the way into the frozen storm.

The walk down the mountain was more like a slide down the mountain, the slope was almost entirely ice. I screamed the whole way, terrified that I would slide right off the mountain and fall all the way down. The wind was hitting my face like a whip, sending chills through me, making me scream louder. Chance was concerned, but he couldn't get to me, he was sliding faster and faster until he hit the bottom and tumbled into the snow. Next Jack flew into the snow bank, followed by Theresa, then Singe. I was last and when I hit the base of the mountain I flew into the air above the rest of them and landed fast first into the snow, yelling the whole way.

This time Chance rushed over to me," Are you okay!?"

"Yeah.. I just never want to do that again. EVER!"

He chuckled at me, "I hope we never have to."

"Brrr," I shuddered at the thought of sliding down the mountain again. "Where do we go now?," I sat up from the snow, looking around. I saw the mountains we just came from and the mountain we were climbing next. The next mountain was huge! I mean colossal! I had to look straight up at the sky and I still couldn't see the peak! We were in a valley type thing between the two mountain and all there was around us was snow and rock.

"Now, we'll find a place to stay for the night," Chance was now looking around too and seeing our lack of options.

"No, mate," Singe approached us," We have to keep moving, nothing down here for us. We need to make it to the next tunnel," he hiked his bag and walked towards the next mountain.

"Really?! The next mountain, already!?," I squeaked, mortified at it's height and how steep of slope it was.

"Yes, if we move now we might make it before sundown Bluey."

Jack didn't argue and neither did Theresa, they both obediently found their bags and followed after Singe.

"Seriously!?," I whispered to myself in disbelief.

"Let's go, scaredy cat," Chance nudged me.

"I hate this!", I mumbled.

This mountain, like I thought, was much worse than the other. The slope was icy and steep, which was hard enough before it started to sleet. The sleet made the icy wet and even more slippery than before, but slowly we walked. It was hardest for Jack because he didn't have claws he could dig into the ice, only hooves. It was difficult for me too, with my cast sliding away from me.

He slipped and slid down the mountain a few times, not all the way down, but pretty far. I never slid down the mountain but I fell down a few times, managing to catch myself before sliding. When Jack slid, we had to go back and get him; by the third time, we made a game plan to walk behind him and help push him out the slope. It worked out well, until nightfall.

When the sun slipped behind the distant mountain peaks, the chill in the air rose. The sleet began to freeze and rain down on us as little balls of ice. _HAIL! REALLY, HAIL! NOW OF ALL TIMES: HAIL!, _I was screaming mentally at all the obstacles that we had faced so far on our short journey.

_First Chance is taken by the Hunter, next we get separated, then I break my ankle and we almost are killed by Mightyena. Theresa has meltdowns constantly and chance is so worried about being recaptured. Now we are getting hailed on while walking up a steep icy slope! What's next?! _

We continued our slow trudge up the side of the mountain, well after the sun had completely vanished; leaving the path ahead dark and all of us blind to where it would lead.

"What if we passed the opening!?," Jack called back to us.

"We didn't!," Singe grunted against the weight of pushing the Ponyta."Keep going!"

"Maybe we should stop for the night!," Theresa panted, exhausted from propelling Jack.

"Stopping now would be suicide," Jack said. "It's too cold! We would freeze before dawn!"

"Easy for you to say!," Theresa yelled over the sound of the hail hitting the ice," you aren't doing anything!"

Jack stayed quiet while Chance spoke," How much further, Singe?"

"Not far, I believe! I can't really tell, it's too dark!"

"Violet, do you think you can use you TM?," Chance shouted. "The one that brings the light!"

"I can try!," I toke a step back from Jack and the rest of them as they struggled to hold him. I closed my eyes, _this is going to be difficult. _Making my own sun, without the actual sun there, would drain my energy and be extremely hard to hold on to. Nonetheless, I focused on my inner light, but there was barely any. I was so drained from the day already, emotionally and physically. I summoned the small ball of energy and opened my mouth and saw a small glowing ball, the size of a tennis ball escape. The light was dim and the ball was so small, I doubted it would do any good.

I held my focus on it, not letting it slip away, while moving it around so we could see which way to go.

"Move forward," Singe shouted to all of us," It should be just ahead."

They struggled to push Jack and I struggled to get a grip on the ice as I continued to hold on to the light. I focused the light right ahead of Jack so they could navigate, while I took small sluggish steps staring at the ice beneath my feet. Chance said something so I looked up and stepped forward, loosing my footing. I slid down slowly at first, digging my claws into the ice but it wasn't enough to stop. The ice felt like it would tear my claws out so I let go and began tumbling down. I was flipping and sliding, and the ice scratched, burned and stung my entire body. My cast was throbbing with intense aches but that was the least of my worries, I couldn't see anything but white! I hit my head again, against the frozen slope-hard. The black creept into my vision, making the white disappear and my mind go blank.


	20. Chapter 20

I heard the sound of water rushing and Wingulls calling in the distance. My eyes flutter open and I see the ocean crashing against the sand at my feet. _A beach? _Before I could ask too many questions, Chance runs down the wet sand to me, barking happily.

"Chance," I call to him happily.

"Hello, Beautiful," he bounds up to me and kisses me, lingering on my lips.

"Chance," I pull away, "Where are we?"

"I know," he smiles looking out to the water," isn't it perfect here!?"

I look out past the water at the sun, which was setting behind the ocean streaking the sky with orange and pink. "It is breath taking," I whisper, gazing at the sky.

"Too bad I'm leaving," he sighs, dropping his head turning away.

"Wait! What?," I follow him.

"I have to leave," he tells me.

"I'll go with you,"

"No," he scoffed," you can't come."

"When will you come back," I was beginning to panic.

He dug up a yellow stone from the sand, placing it between us; it had a flame on the front and it glowed with power. "Why would I come back? I can be free and do whatever I want without you! I can improve my life! I need to do this and if that means leaving you, so be it. It was bound to happen eventually," he touched to the stone with his paws and closed his eyes.

Chance was replaced with a large orange dog, with huge black stripes. He looked like Chance, but he had much more fluffy tan fur and his tail was twice as long. His eyes glared down at me through the gaps of fur, his eyes were black and seemed to gleam with evil. _An Arcanine!_

"You seem surprised! Of course you were always a little slow," he chucked in the back of his throat, not in happy loving way.

"Chance?," I questioned the giant figure.

"Who else!," he bellowed angrily.

In fear I ran, as fast as I could away from the monstrous beast. The beach was dark and the moon shown on the water, lighting the night slightly. The beast laughed from behind me and the ground began to shake as he ran after me.

"Run, run, as fast as you can," it whispered in my ear, but when I glanced behind me no one was there. I stopped running and looked around, I was alone on the beach. My heart was racing and I could feel it pounding in my head as I took deep soothing breaths. I saw a light in the distance and jogged towards it, hoping it would give me answers.

It was a Rapidash sitting by the shore, staring into the ocean; when I came close enough he turned to me.

"Ahh, Violet," he spoke as if he knew me," we were all wondering when you would come." He stood and strode towards me, but I cowered with the fear of not knowing this stranger. " Of course you hide, typical Violet" he chuckled. _Wait! I know that laugh! Jack?_

"J-J-Jack," I say in awe, staring up at the Rapidash.

"She speaks! Yes, Violet, it is I: Jack."

"You evolved?"

"Of course. It's only natural," he sat in front of me," I was strong enough, unlike you," his voice cuts into me.

"W-w-w-what?"

"You are so weak," he glares at me, his mane shinning brightly around him. " You will never know the glory of evolving, it's pitiful, Violet. It's sad really, that I associate with such a low life Vulpix. You will not amount to anything in your life. If that isn't the most pathetic thing, I don't know what is," he spoke casually, like my life was nothing.

A tear escapes my eyes and rolls into the sand, _why are you being so cruel?_

"Maybe I should put you out of your misery," he considers.

I slowly back away from him, but heart was beating loudly, I was sure he could here it. He turned to me again," Run away like always, Violet. It doesn't surprise me that you don't stand up for yourself, not even now." I turn and run up the beach, away from the water and into the night. Past the beach there was a path that lead me further onto the island, I ran until the pain in my side was unbearable. I fell to the ground, panting loudly, _why is this happening? _

I sobbed to myself quietly, rethinking all the cruel words that were said from Jack and Chance. _Maybe they're right. _As I was wallowing in self pity, I heard a whistle of a Pokémon, so I ran and hid behind a bush. A short Pokémon with long ears came into view, walking down to the beach, it was a Victini. _Theresa!?_

"Theresa?" I say to the Victini.

It stops in it's tracks, "Woah! Who said that? How do you know me?"

I rush out to see her," Oh thank goodness you're here Theresa. I'm so confused!" I hugged her tightly.

The Victini pushes me away and looks me up and down with an uncertain face," Uhm, who are you exactly," She asks.

"It's me," I say baffled" Violet! We were best friends! Don't you remember me?!"

"Uhh... no.," She turns to leave, but hen looks back to me," Oh, whoever you are, have you seen my boyfriend?"

"Wait, who are you dating."

She smiles," He is so dreamy. Ufff! He is a-..."

I interrupt her description," It doesn't matter, Theresa! We have to get out of here! Let's go!" I nudge her away from the shore.

"No," she runs from me," I don't even know who you are, Creep! Go away!"

I run after her," It's not safe Theresa! Come Back!" The darkness of the night is overwhelming," Wait!," I call to her as she runs onto the sandy beach.

"Jay!? Jay!?," She yells frantically," Jay, help me!"

I gain on her before pouncing on her back tackling her to the ground," Stop!"

She screams into me ear, thrashing wilding under my grip. "Stop, Theresa! I'm helping you!"

"EW, go away! JAY!? JAY!?," she cries.

I am thrown off her back and soar through the air, greeting the ground face first. My back is searing with pain from the attack I received, but I dig my head out of the sand and see Theresa hugging the Rapidash while sobbing into his arms.

"She attacked me on the path... and I tried to run away b-b-b-but," she broke into tears again.

"There, there," he soothes her.

I gasp with the pain on my back and they both look at me; Theresa frightened but the Rapidash with pity. Tears sting my eyes as they approach me in the sand.

Theresa kicks me in the stomach," That's for tackling me, Asshole!" I gasp for air, but there was none. I'm silently drowning on land while they watch me, offering no assistance.

"How can you not remember me," I wheeze with agony.

Theresa leans down to me, so we are eye level and says,"Oh my God! I don't know you, freak! I don't know how you know me, stalker, but leave me alone!," she spits in my face then rises to the Rapidash.

"I'm just glad you're okay," the Rapidash turns to her," I don't know what I would have done if something happened."

"Oh, Jay," she blushes and they began to kiss.

I turn away, getting control of my injuries. I try to stand but my body cries and I collapse onto the sand again. The couple breaks their passionate moment to watch me struggle.

"Pathetic," Theresa states blankly.

The Rapidash grunts with agreement," I know. Violet, didn't I tell you, you can't win. You're too weak," he calls to me.

"Wait! You know her?," Theresa asks.

"Oh yes. You know her too, this is the Vulpix we abandoned, remember?"

Her eyes widened at me," OHHH! This is her? I remember her, but she seemed stronger then," she laughed," We left because she was totally dragging us down. And look at us: you are a Rapidash and I'm a level 62! It was the** best** decision of our lives!," she emphasized.

"You may be a level 62, but you still ran from her. What is she? A level 10?," he laughed at her.

"Don't laugh at me! I'll battle her right now!," she broke her embrace with him and stood in battle stance.

The ground was shaking and an Arcanine came into view. "I heard yelling? You guys okay?"

"Of course," the Rapidash smiled brightly," Just reencountering an old friend," he then turned to me.

"Oh...," the Arncanine spoke coldly," **Her**," he rolled his eyes and went to sit by the Rapidash.

_Why is this happening!? WHAT is happening?!_

"Get up!," Theresa spat at me," Get up before you never walk again!"

"You get 'em girl," The Arcanine called from the sidelines.

I struggled to stand, but somehow I did, while my body protested. I felt weak and I knew that I looked it too, but I put on a strong face and prepped myself.

I gathered my energy and attacked with **Fire Spin,** which she wasn't expecting, but she dodged it barely singed.

"YOU BITCH!," She shouted at me, then turned to see her damaged fur.

Theresa closed her eyes and blue and purple began to swirl around her, creating a ball of power in front of her before it came rushing towards me. I didn't have time to duck or block, so it hit me full force, knocking me backwards, blurring my vision.

"AND THAT'S A KNOCKOUT!," I heard them cheering.

"Good job on that **Hyper Beam**, babe," Rapidash told her.

"Thanks," she panted," let me recharge real quick."

"I can't believe I dated her," the Arcanine spoke," It's embarrassing!"

They all laughed and came to where I lay motionless, peering down at me with smug expressions.

"What a worthless piece of life," Arcanine said disgusted.

"We made the right choice to ditch her when we did," Theresa said cheerfully.

"You guys wanna get something to eat," Rapidash asked.

The blackness enclosed my vision before anyone could reply. The darkness lasted for an eternity before my senses detected something.

I heard the sound of water rushing and Wingulls calling in the distance. My eyes flutter open and I see the ocean crashing against the sand at my feet. _A Beach?_


	21. Chapter 21

My leg was throbbing intensely, but I could not tend to it; all I could do was lay there. I forced my eyes to open and they blurred momentarily before focusing on the dirt. I was lying on the dirt facing a wall... made of dirt and rocks? I tried to roll over to see what where I was but it was too painful. I took a deep breath, trying not to panic, _is this another dream? I don't want to dream anymore. Anything but that dream! _The memory of that horrific beach plagued my mind and tears began to slowly fall from my cheeks.

"Stop pacing, you're driving me crazy!," a shrill voice broke my train of thought.

"What else do I do, huh? Just sit there like you, like we have no problems at all!?," A deep luscious voice replied sharply.

"Don't act like your the only one freaking out! Okay? We all out worried!," The woman defended herself.

Something moved on my left, I didn't even realize anything was there. I shut my eyes quickly, fearing who these voices were and what horrors that could bring to me. I felt the heat of _it's_ body next to mine; _it_ was now standing over me. _It_ then rolled me over so I was laying on my back, my leg cried out but I remained motionless. I could feel_ it_ looking at me, staring at my face. I felt so exposed but I didn't dare more to cover myself.

"She's been crying again," a third voice spoke from right above me, sounding so sad and lonely.

"I don't understand," The deep voice said," I just... I don't understand," The pacing footsteps stopped.

I felt_ it_ kneel down next to me, so close to my face I wanted to shriek! "Violet," _it_ spoke sounding so wounded and hurt,"Violet, can you hear me?"

The sound of his voice was calming and loving; I wanted so desperately to open my eyes and look at the mysterious figure. _But what if it's a trap? Another nightmare? I can't do it again! I just can't!_

"Violet, please,"_ it_ begged me, _it's_ voice cracked with emotion," Please, wake up. Please!," I could ear the intensity in his voice, his passion. " I can't keep living like this: unknowing. Please, wake up! Violet, please!"

_Maybe this is real life? Maybe this is the real world? How can I be sure... it could be just an illusion. I don't want this to not be real, I want to wake up!,_ I thought desperately, on the point of shaking._ I WANT TO WAKE UP! _The warmth of the body next to me shifted as he changed his postion

"She'll wake up soon," I heard the woman whisper," Any day now."

_I'm waking up now_! Carefully I opened my eyes, slowly at first, to see the ceiling above me. It was made out of rocks and dirt, like the walls were and the floor. I glanced to the right and saw the wall that I had first seen when waking; to the left I saw the shadows of movement. None of them saw me move, and the body next to mine was all fur, I saw no face.

I opened my mouth barely and tried to talk, but only a whimper escaped my lips. It was so silent, I doubted they would hear it. The body next to me shifted again, but did not notice my attempts to speak.

"chance," I managed to speak, my throat was dry and my voice low. I sounded like an old Sanshrew who desperately needed a glass of water.

The warmth of the body next to me was gone in a flash, now it was standing over me. A fluffy orange face, with large green eyes was suddenly all I could see. His eyes were so hopeful and happy, just to see me. _CHANCE!_ My heart pounded in my chest and I let out another whimper of joy.

"Violet," he whispered to me, like I was his most precious possession. His voice lingered in the air and then I knew that this was real. He was real. I was final awake from that dreaded dream. "Violet, your awake," he said breathlessly.

"Chance," was all I croaked back a him

His eyes watered with joy and he laughed at my attempt to talk to him," Violet."

"Get off her so she can breathe," Theresa scolded him.

He obliged, and helped me to sit up but never left my side. He stood next to me protectively while the rest flocked over.

"Oh Violet," Theresa teared up," Oh Violet. I'm so happy to see you. But don't worry about anything, not a thing," her voice took a serious note. " Everything okay now. Everything's okay."

"Shh, stop that," Jack hushed her," Hey there Vi," he turned to me," I'm happy to see those eyes looking at me again," he smiled.

I smiled back at him," Jack. Jack, your here."

"Of course, where else would I go?"

_The beach! _I thought with horror and cringed with the awful memory.

"Good to see you're alive, Bluey," Singe winked at me.

"Thank you, Singe," I smiled at him.

"You must be starving!,"Theresa exclaimed running to her bag and coming back with a pawful of berries. "Here, eat them. You'll need some strength."

I didn't realize how hungry I really was until I saw the sweet tender berries. I scarfed them down in a flash, licking my lips from the delicious taste they left in my mouth.

"Soo.. how long have I been out?," I asked cleaning my paws. Theresa looked over her shoulder and Jack cleared his throat while Singe scratched his head. "What? What is it?," I looked to them but they avoided my gaze. Lastly, I turned to Chance, "Chance?"

"Oh...well," he cleared his throat,"Well, only about twoweeksorso," he whispered quickly, turning to look at the wall," Wow, those Digletts did a great job, this tunnel is-,"

"TWO WEEKS!? I"VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR TWO WEEKS!," I shrieked. " I COULD HAVE BEEN DEAD!"

Everyone flinched at my outburst but Jack was quick to reassure me," No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we checked you everyday at least twice. You were breathing and we always found a pulse, we made sure that you were strong and stable or else we would have rushed you to the nearest hospital, trust me. Everyday Chance was begging us to take you to the ER, but I told him by the time we got there you would be awake, and look," he smiled his heart stopping grin," I was right."

I was just so in shock by the news, _Two weeks.. _

"But you're awake now!," Theresa cheered happily," and we can get on with it!"f

"On with what?"

"Oh.. well, the journey," she stated simply.

_Oh god! We've been on this mountain for two weeks! _"So..," my voice squeaked," you're saying that... we've been on this same mountain for two weeks," I breathed slowly, so to not throw up.

Theresa snorted," As if! Like Jack would let us stay there for that long. All the boys have been taking turns carrying you, we've actually made good time. You can see the end of the mountain range at the end of this tunnel."

"Really? You carried me?," I turned to all three boys.

"Uhmm... Yeah," Jack said like I was incoherent," It's not like you weigh as much as this one does," he nodded over to Singe," carrying you was easy."

"Hey mate, I'm no heavy bloke," Singe said offended.

"If you were light, we would have carried you too when you blacked out," Jack chuckled.

Singe crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, looking down either sad or embarrassed.

"I-I just can't believe you carried me," I said in awe.

"Well it wasn't all easy," Chance said. "You thrashed sometimes and screamed, but mostly you just cried."

"I cried?"

"Yeah, a lot," Theresa said quietly. "Why were you crying, Violet?"

All eight eyes turned to me with sympathy and understanding, hungry for the truth only I could provide them. I can't tell them about it! _It's too awful and too painful. They are not the people in my dream, they are better. They would never do that. They are family._

"I don't know," I said slowly, trying my hardest to sound confused.

"Oh... well, sometimes I sleep walk, mate," Singe said, comforting me," it's the same basic thing."

I smiled at him and then Jack ordered us all to et some rest because he wanted to reach the end of the peaks by tomorrow. I curled up to chance, he wrapped himself around me, making me feel safe and warm.

"Goodnight, Chance," I sighed happily, breathing in his intoxicating smell.

"Wow.." he whispered.

"What?"

"It's just been awhile since you've said that."

My heart throbbed slightly for the angst I had caused all my pack. I felt horrible about the worry I had put within them, how they must have been so concerned for me while I had dreamt of them abandoning me!

"I love you," he whispered into my fur.

"I love you, too," I said nuzzling into him.


	22. Chapter 22

We all walked down the final mountain of the range in complete silence. The view was unreal. I saw the forest that was waiting for us below and then beyond that I saw a vast expanse of water twinkling in the sinking sunlight. The horizon was a bright orange, with pink and purple streaks around the sun; the deep night sky was closing in around it making the first few stars visible.

We reached the bottom of the mountain ranges and paused at the tree line, unsure if we should venture in this close to nightfall.

"Well...," Singe spoke from behind us, we all turned to see him. I didn't realize he had stopped walking with us. "I guess this is the end," he looked down to his feet and kicked a rock.

"The end?," Theresa gasped.

"Well yeah, Shelia. I showed you through the tunnels like I said, I held my end . I don't want to impose on your lives anymore."

"Oh..," Theresa voiced got caught in her throat. "You don't have to do..."

"She's right," Jack said," You are welcome to travel with us. You've been nothing but helpful to us and it would be an honor to welcome you to our pack."

Singe looked up to him," Do you mean that?" he whispered.

"Of course," Chance barked happily," It would be heartless to make you go back through the mountains alone!"

"I...I don't know," he said reluctantly.

"Please...," Theresa begged," Please, come with us."

"What do you say ,Violet," Jack asked.

"Of course, the more the merrier," I smile.

"Well...OKAY!," he cheered, jogging up to us, " It'll be nice to be around good mates!"

"Do you think we should go in?," I ask the group.

"Naw, we should wait until the suns up," Singe spoke, turning back to the mountain. "We can sleep out here tonight, it's warm enough."

Slowly, we all turned from the trees and went back to the base of the mountain. We made a small camp fire and sat up half the night laughing and telling stories of our past. It was a great night to remember.

* * *

The next day we faced the tree line again, but now it looked different. Darker, spookier, creepier. It looked haunted and dangerous, like it would have poisonous plants and Zoroarks hiding in every possible space. I gulped down my paranoid thoughts and closed my eyes, remembering the image of last night. It was peaceful and calming to recall the bright sky with the night stars.

"Ready?," Chance leaned in and asked me.

I opened one eye and grinned," The real question is: are you ready?"

"Oh, I'm ready" he said smugly following Jack through the twisted vines blocking the path.

The canopy from the trees blocked almost all the sunlight, making the path dark and cold.

"This gives me the creeps," I heard Theresa complain.

"Don't worry, Shelia, I got you," Singe said.

"That's all I need," she giggled.

I was taken back by their open flirting, _What happened while I was out?_

The distant crow of a Madibuzz made me freeze, _oh no. _Mandibuzzes had terrified me since childhood, my sister used to tell me how they would come into my room at night and snatch me from bed, taking me to it's nest where I would my skin would be peeled from my bones. _Jade! Why did you say that? Why? Why Mandibuzz?_ The image of their long sharp talons and long pointed beak sent shivers down my spine.

"You good, Vi?," Theresa was now right behind me, because I still had not moved.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just want to get out of this place."

"That makes two of us," she muttered.

The trail was long and winding, going left then right. I had a headache from the darkness and the constant giggling fits that erupted from Thersea and Singe after they kept whispering to each other. We had been walking all day, but I had no idea how long because I couldn't see the sun.

Chance stopped abruptly infront of me, making me run into his butt. "Chance, what the hell?"

"Shh," he said, perking his ears and listening. Jack stopped walking and perked his ears too, and Singe and Theresa finally shut up. The forest was quiet, there was no wind, no rustle in the trees, nothing.

"It's so quiet," Jack said suspiciously.

"Very quiet," Chance agreed.

"Foongus!," a small figure steps in front of Jack on the trail.

"Oh shit," Jack reared and kicked his front legs from the surprise.

"FOONGUS!," the pokemon shouted

"Fuck, that scared me," Jack was breathing rapidly," Shit."

"What is it!?," I asked peering around Chance to get a better view.

"It's a Foongus," Theresa told me," they are so cute! Like little babies you just want to squeeze and love forever."

"Whatever it is, it fucking scared me!," he turned to the culprit," Hey, yeah...uhm what do you want?"

"Foongus! Foo foo!," he bellowed.

"Yeah...uhm...okay. Sure," Jack said hesitantly.

The creature looked to his left, waiting. _What is he waiting for?! Who is there?_

My eyes bulged and my heart stopped when a human stepped through the trees and onto the path. He knelt down to the Foongus, talking to him; his voice was high and shrill, unlike most males. He is was short and that was all I could tell, it was so dark.

"Run!," Chance said in a low, calm tone.

"Run? I'm not leaving you!," I said surprised he would even tell me to go.

"Go! Go now!," he never turned to look at me, he kept staring at the human.

"Chance!," I tried to convince him.

"NOW!," he barked.

Before I could turn back down the trail, the human stood up and turned to Jack, speaking in his high voice in his confusing language. The hair on Chance's back stood up and he growled in his throat. Singe then pushed me behind him with Theresa, which then I pulled her into the buses on the side of the path. The bush was sharp from thorns and scratched from dead peeling bark. I could barely see anything, _What are we gonna do?_

I needed to know what was happening, so I used my move **Sunny Day**, and the light streamed through the trres onto the path, illuminating my view. The human was young, very young and had red spikey fur on his head, but nowhere else. He blocked the sunlight with his strange paw, shielding his face. _His body is almost identical to the ones I saw with Chance. There is almost no difference!_

The human continued to talk to the three remaining on the trail in his falsetto tone, droning on and on. Smirking while he did, showing his teeth, which were not sharp and in no way threatening. _What a weakling!_

"What is he saying?!," I whispered.

"I don't know," Theresa trembled," It doesn't sound good. Oh no!," she gasped

The boy now had stood behind his Foongus, the Pokémon was in a battle stance. _No! Oh No!_


	23. Chapter 23

_I hate humans! When will they leave us alone!,_ I thought vicously while hiding in the bushes. _GO AWAY! Oh god, Chance!_

Chance stepped in front of Jack, ready to fight the small mushroom creature. _NO! _I gasp and Theresa clasps her paws on my mouth.

"Shh," she tries to soothe me," It'll be okay."

I want to thrash and kick and scream, _but what will that do? _Tears fall silently from my eyes as I watch the Chance and the Foongus prepare for battle. _If he looses, he will belong to that human. He will be gone, forever. I will never see him again!_

As if he could hear my very thoughts, Singe moves out from next to Jack and goes over to Chance. The talk to each other and by the looks, they are arguing. The human grows impatient and yells to them in a harsh tone. I growl at him, _Impatient fool! SHUT UP!_

Reluctantly, Chance leaves his position and goes to Jack's side, while Singe takes up a battle stance. It was Theresa's turn to gasp and I had to comfort her," Shh, don't worry. He'll be fine."

I knew that she was thinking the same thing I had, if he lost, he would be taken away. I must've been harder for her because we had both seen him lose before, we both knew it was very possible.

The human yelled to his Foongus to attack; the Foongus then dispensed a yellow mist into the air that wrapped around Singe. Singe coughed and thrashed before he completely froze in place.

Theresa shouted into my paw, this was bad.

"Theresa, what just happened?," I whispered.

She blubbered," Foongus just used **Stun Spore**...Singe is paralyzed," she began to cry. I cradled her head against my chest, rocking back and forth, she would do the same for me. "But-but...but Fonnguses don't learn Stun spore," she spoke to herself

It was Singe's turn, but he was paralyzed, so the human shouted another command at the Foongus. The Foongus then closed it's eyes and bubbles appeared around Singe's statue body; the bubbles then traveled to Foongus and disappeared.

_Shit: **Absorb**! Singe has got to hold on! Grass types aren't very effective on Fire Types, but absorbing energy can even the playing field._

"What happened," Theresa turned back to the fight.

"Nothing, nothing yet," I lied stroking her ears.

Looking at Singe, you could see him shaking inside his frozen prison, almost ready to break free of his paralysis, but soon enough. The human gave Foongus his third order and Foongus obliged happily. He used **Absorb** again, draining Singe of his power and strength.

Singe broke through the barrier and stood in his fighting stance, ready to battle the Mushroom Pokémon. He wasted no time and began stomping at the ground, surrounding himself in flames, before charging at the tiny shroom. (**Flame Charge**) The human yelled to his Pokémon but was too late, Singe ran into him at full force, knocking him to the ground.

The Foongus laid there momentarily while he trainer screamed at him angrily. The human's face was almost as red as his hair and I snickered at his flustered expression he wore.

The human told the Pokémon what to do and the Foongus stood slowly, standing tall and proud. Foongus's roots then shot into the ground, securing him and replenishing his power. I could see the waves of power moving from the ground, to his roots, and then too him; it was hypnotic, I had never seen an **Ingrain** before.

Singe then used **Flame Charge** again, knocking the Foongus into the dirt.

"He's... he's doing good, the Foongus is getting weaker," Theresa said optimistically.

The small mushroom stood up and waited for his master's command, when the human told him, he started to spin around gathering energy. He then shot that energy our towards Singe. (**Feint Attack**) Singe leaped out of the way, but not in time, he was hit by the blow and knocked off his feet. Singe looked rough, it must've been painful and my heart felt sorry for him.

Theresa turned back and dug her face into my fur, sobbing at the battle. Singe began to stand, but his knees buckled with his weight. I heard the high pitched laugh of the human, he was laughing at Singe and I wanted to cross the distance between us and elope him in flames.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and saw Singe stand up and stay up. He paused there, not moving, not attacking just standing. In a flash, he was in front of the Foogus and pulled his paw all the back and slashed at the mushroom with his full force. (**Cut**) The Foongus cried out in pain and fell to the ground, bleeding from his cut.

The trainer looked like he would blow a gasket if he lost this battle. _Just you wait,_ I thought smugly; my confidence was high and I believed that Singe would pull through with a win.

Foongus didn't even stand up, he just used his **Ingrain** while laying on the path. The power flowed through him and when he was strong enough he stood with a confident smirk on his face.

Jack and Chance were tense and ready to jump in at a seconds notice on the sidelines. They were on edge, unsure if Singe could finish the battle; both him and the Foongus looked haggard and in need of rest.

Singe closed his eyes and sent a **Psybeam** speeding down the trail to Foongus, but Foongus dodges the attack.

"Violet, I'm so scared," Theresa was peeking at the battle with one eye, terrified to see Singe fail.

"Don't worry, he can do it. Don't worry."

The trainer yells to his Pokémon and the Foongus releases his yellow vapor into the air (**Stun Spore**) but Singe blocked the attack and returned with another **Psybeam**.

The Psybeam hit the Foongus and sent him flying, he flew right into his trainer and they both collapsed to the forest floor. Foongus was unable to get up, the trainer screamed and kicked the dirt like a child. He recalled his Pokémon to his ball and turned to Singe smiling like a lunatic. He tossed a red and white pokeball onto the path in front of Singe which captured him within it's grasp. Singe had disappeared from view and it took me a second to realize what happened, I was so shocked my arms fell and Theresa rushed forward.

"NOO!," Theresa leapt from the bush onto the trail," SINGE!," she ran for the ball on the ground, but Jack stood in her way. "NO! NO!," she desperately reached fro the ball, but it was too far.

The human cheered happily, proud he collected a new Pokémon and laughed at us for losing. He didn't notice the ball on the trail was moving, shaking, cracking. The ball broke and Singe reappeared before us, staggering with his loss of power. The red headed boy saw the Braixen and all traces of happiness left his face. He turned snow white and ran into the trees at full speed.

"SINGE!," Theresa escaped from Jack and ran to him, jumping on him.

"Theresa!," he hugged her back and they looked at each other, both invoked with so much passion. They looked as if they wanted to ravish each other right there on the spot in front of all of to see, not caring in the slightest.

_Wow, this is a really intimate moment_, I thought, _maybe I should- Wow, look at the tree. That is a nice tree, good strong branches and everything!_

When I turned back to them, Theresa was on the ground and they were smiling like fools.

"Woah," Jack said, his mouthed still open.

"That was... well, I don't even know what that was," Chance was at a lose for word.

"I'll tell you what it was!," Theresa said giddily," It was pure genius!"

"Thank you Shelia," he winked to her.

"I was worried for a second," I told him," When you went into that ball, I thought you were a goner."

"Well, I would have been... except I had one thing that reminded me I couldn't be captured, one thing that pushed me through my weakness. When I thought about it, my power surged and I felt the pokeball crack... it-it was indescribable," he was in a state of awe.

"What was it?," I asked him.

"Huh?"

"What did you think of?"

He smiled bashfully and looked down at Theresa who was gazing up at him with big blue eyes. He touched her cheek with his paw, a simple sweet gesture, but in the moment looked powerful and sacred," It was you."


	24. Chapter 24

We made camp for the night further into the dark forest. The place was eerie and made me squeamish, but no one else seemed to notice; Jack and Chance were discussing future travel t=plans while Singe and Theresa giggled and whispered to each other like love struck puppies. _Wow, that was quick_, I thought._ I mean, they're cute... but so attached. Are Chance and I like that?_

Before I could think about it more Jack came to sit next to me," Hello there, is this seat taken?"

"Help yourself," I smiled. "Hey, Jack, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"What happened with those two," I pointed to Theresa and Singe," when I was knocked out?"

He sighed," Yeeeaaahhh, those two got pretty close."

"Why?," It sound bitchier than I intended so I corrected myself," I mean, don't get me wrong, it's cute and I'm not against it. It's just it seems so quick.."

He chuckled," That's because you were out for 14 days! You didn't see them grow closer and closer like Chance and I did," he stopped.

"...Annnd," I edged him on.

"Well, every night Theresa would cry and pray for you. We all tried to calm her down, even Chance who was going through a bad faze, too."

I looked over to Chance who was counting our remaining supplies and smiled sadly, _I've put him through so much. I'm so sorry._

Jack continued on," The only one who she'd listen to was Singe. He would calm her down and they would spend endless hours talking, not just about you, about any and everything."

"I thought you of all people would be relived that she had a new affection.."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I am," he reassured me," It's just... I don't know, it's just- just weird somehow. I..I don't know."

"I think you're jealous that you lost your chance with her," I grinned.

"No, no Violet. That is so not true" he looked serious and stern.

"Are you suuuree," I teased him.

"Violet, nothing could be further from the truth. I am so happy to have her off my back... and that she is happy, of course," he smiled devilishly.

"Whatever you say," I rolled my eyes. "Hey, Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Do Chance and I do that stuff, " we both glanced over at Singe and Theresa who were now giving Eskimos kisses.

"Uhmm... I'm going to say no to that. Definitely not."

"Good," I said and then we both laughed.

The night as cool and dark, only the light of the fire showed me our surroundings. The black trees were wicked and twisting, like they were escaping from death, but failed. The fire casted shadows all around us, making this look more and more like a horror story.

"I hate this place," I confided in Jack.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here by noon tomorrow, but for now: sleep," He jumped up and went back to Chance.

I curled up with myself and wrapped me six luscious tails around me. They were beginning to look haggard and disgusting like before, _Ughhh! I need another bath! _I picked through them the best I could, pulling out twigs and leaves and tried to smooth them out but they ended up looking frizzy and tangled. _I give up!_

I lay my head down and closed my eyes, thinking pleasant thoughts. I dreamed about my life with Chance: we lived next to a waterfall and had two babies, one boy and one girl. They were perfect and so was our life. Jack came to visit us often with his new bride, she was Ponyta like him and they were so happy together. Theresa and Singe stopped by, too and they brought all their kids; I couldn't count them they all moved so much, but there was a least a dozen! _This is the perfect life_.

* * *

We reached the ocean shore the next day, it truly was like a fairytale. I looked down the beach and my breathing stopped, _this looks so familiar. THE BEACH!_ I started to back away from the sand, back onto the trail. _This isn't- this isn't real! This can't be real!_

"Violet, where you going?," Chance was sitting in front of me with his head tilted," Are you okay?"

I reached my paw out and touched his paw, _this is real! This is real! He is real. This isn't the dream._

"Violet," he lowered his head to look at me.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," I smiled at him, but I knew he saw right through it.

"Hey guys," Theresa called to us," Do you know how were going to cross THE OCEAN!," the intensity of her voice changed drastically from calm to agitated. "I mean, come one, no one thought of _Wow! were all fire types, but let's take a journey_ to the OCEAN!"

"Calm down, there's a plan," I turned to Chance," There is a plan, right?"

"Uhhh...," his eyes widened," Excuse me," he turned and dashed onto the beach to where Jack and Singe were talking.

I shook my head, _Boys._

"How do they not have a plan?!," Theresa was surprised.

"You can't plan an adventure, if you did, there would be no fun," I smiled. "Hey, Theresa?"

"Yeah," she sighed, annoyed by something.

"What's with you and Singe?"

Her eyes widened and she a small smile crept onto her face, she then looked out to where the boys stood," Love."

"Love?," I almost chocked on the air.

"Yes," she was oblivious to my reaction," This has to be love."

"What makes you say that," I asked, controlling myself.

"Look," she turned back to me," I've seen you and Chance prance around and rub your happiness in everyone's face, Violet. We all have and it made me feel like shit. Especially since Jack was so... so stupid as to not see how much I wanted him. But now... now that's all gone. All of it. I see now that you and Chance weren't flaunting your love on purpose, it just happens. When you love someone, you don't even realize that our doing what your doing; the whole day passes in a blur and all you want is to spend every minute with that special person," she was now talking mostly to herself.

"Yeah... I guess so," I was not sure that I saw love that way. _There is no way I could spend EVERY second of my life with Chance.. we would go crazy. Everyone needs their own personal space. _"To me, love is being there when they need you, them being there when you need them and being with each other when you don't want anyone but at the same time want only want them," I turned my gaze to the three standing in the sand.

"Love is different for everyone," she mumbled.

"Yes, yes it is.," I cleared my throat and shift to face her again," So...love? How did that happen?"

"I don't know," she sighed dreamily," he just gets me, you know? He understands me on every level, it's almost like he is me!," she laughed. " He is just... just perfect. He listens, he calms me down, he shares his secrets and I share mine. Singe makes me feel safe and he really cares about me and you know what? I deserve it! I deserve to have him, to have love."

"Yes, you do. I'm happy for you two. Have you guys talked about it?

"Well... no. Not really. I mean, he tell me he likes me and how beautiful I am, but we don't have a title. Have you and Chance talked about it?"

"Uhm.. Well..." _No. We haven't. But... isn't it obvious? We love each other._

"See. Sometimes, you don't need a title to know that it's real. You just know."

"Yeah... I guess so."

"Ayy!," Singe called to us, waving for us to come.

We caught up to them while they were discussing how we would cross the water.

"None of us can swim!," Chance was trying to convey the message.

"She can!," Singe jabbed his paw at me.

"NOT ACROSS THE OCEAN!"

"What's your plan then ,eh?"

"I don't have one..."

"Exactly!"

"But your plan won't work, so it's basically like having no plan at all!"

"Still.."

"Jack!," I interrupted the childish squabbling. "You knew we would have to cross the water, yes?" He nodded," Then why didn't you think of a plan?"

"I knew we would need to cross the water, but I told myself I'd come up with a plan when we got there.."

"Annnd," Theresa butted in.

"And, we're here," Jack stated.

"Ughh," I rolled my eyes," So we made it here, but have no plan. Is that it?"

The boys turned to each other, nodding," Yeah that sounds about right."

"What if we just follow the coast until we reach a city?," Theresa pointed down the shore.

"We don't know for certain if there is a town that way," Jack told her.

"Well.. you two have traveled a lot," she looked to Chance and Jack," You should know where to find a place."

"No... not really," Chance said. " We just went place to place, not knowing where we were or what the name was, we just kept moving with no direction."

"That is the stupidest thing ever! When I traveled, I always knew where I was and where I was going."

"Then tell us, wise one, where do we go?," Jack spoke calmly but ironically.

"I don't know where we are!," She shouted," I've been following you around blindly!"

"We all make mistakes," Jack mumbled.

"Aye, mate! Back off!," Singe stepped up to Jack, chest to chest.

"Oh, really? I don't think you want to battle me again, last time you barely woke up."

"I'll take my chances."

"Oh really?"

"Enough!," I shouted. All eyes turned to me," We can't be fighting right now, it's pointless and time consuming."

"Bluey's right... you're just a waste of time," he began to walk down the shore line away from us. Theresa leapt after him, trying to convince him to calm down and stay.

"Jeez," Jack laughed.

"You're not helping," I said sternly and he stopped. "Maybe we can ask someone for help?"

Who Violet? Who? Look around, there is no one here!"

"Maybe none we can see right now... but I'm sure some Pokémon live on this beach."

We all looked up and down the beach for movement and listened for a Pokémon cry, but all we heard was the crash of the waves and Singe and Theresa talking.

"WAIT!," Chance said," Look, over there! There's something!"


	25. Chapter 25

"Where!?," I whipped my head around to see.

"There!"

Sure enough, there was a creature lurking at the edge of the trees; it was so far away that I could barely see the outline of the figure.

"What is it?," Jack questioned, taking a step closer squinting at the outline.

"I don't know," Chance replied.

"Let's find out," I walked towards the Pokémon but Chance ran in front of me.

"VIOLET! No, we can't! We have no idea what that is!? It could hurt you.."

"The point is to find out and Chance... I could hurt it too," I brushed past him continuing up the sandy slope closer and closer to the ominous shadow._ I'm fierce! I can be viscous! I'm a Vulpix, we can be intimidating_. "Hello," I called. The black figure didn't move, it froze with anger or fear I had no idea, but I was positive it saw me walking to it. I paused, afraid to scare it off, "Hello?," I repeated, now I was questioning my decision. _I should have listened to Chance! This is a bad idea!_

"We mean you no harm," Chance said walking up by my side," We just want to know if there is a way across the ocean? Would you know?" I smiled, _of course he would follow me._

I thought that we seemed innocent enough, none threating but then a second figure appeared next to the first. They looked identical, two of the same species staring at us they looked calm but how much can I tell from a shadow?

"Come on, let's go," a deep, dark voice belted to it's friend.

"We should help!," a faint dainty voice floated on the air.

"No! They are not our concern, let's go!," the deep male voice was stern and serious.

"Please! They seem friendly, they need help!" the girl whined.

"I said no," he snapped at her.

"Fine, it's not like you ever listen to me! It's not like I matter at all or anything! I'm just your mate...for life! I don't have have an opinion or anything, I'm just a piece of meat to you, for you to use and-"

"FINE! We will assist them, but if it comes to a fight you owe me."

"Don't I always!"

The two figures came out of the shadows; they were Deerling. The girl was a small petite little thing, she looked very young but she was very beautiful. Her fur was a burnt orange, like the glow of the sunset and she had yellow spots by her hind legs. The boy was slightly bigger and stood with his chest puffed, in a threatening way. His fur was the same as his mates, they only difference was their eyes. Her were big and innocent while his were cool and stern.

"Uhm... Hello, I'm Violet," I say to them, "this is Chance and we were just wondering if you knew a way over the water?"

The male scoffed at me," You can swim across."

"Jeff! They are fire types," she gawked at him," Be nicer!"

"I'm just saying, that's the obvious answer!"

"If they wanted obvious they could have thought of it!," she turned to us smiling," Hi, I'm Tracy and this is my mate, Jeff."

"Pleasure to meet the both of us," Jack was now next to Chance," I'm Jack."

"It's so nice to meet new people" Tracy was beaming" Living here is nothing but dull, all we have for neighbors are other Deerlings, it can be pretty bland. The only fun neighbors are the ocean Pokémon," she giggled.

"Tracy..," Jeff spoke with a warning tone.

"What?! It's true!"

"So sorry to bother you, but we just were curious if-"

"If we know away across the ocean, we got it! And the answer is no. Let's leave," Jeff grunted to his mate.

"Jeff..., we can help these Pokémon. They just want across the ocean which means they are leaving which means they will leave the territory. Right?"

Jeff rolled his eyes," Right.," he grumbled unhappily.

"We can help you," she beamed enthusiastically to us.

"Wait you don't mean.."

"Yes. I mean that," she replied.

"But..." Jeff tried to persuade her.

"No, we can ask her. She'll be happy to help. Follow me," Tracy winked. She trotted down the beach to where the tide was pushing to the shore.

"Tracy! I don't think.."

"Pshht," she snorted," Stop worrying!" Tracy turned back to the waves and closed her eyes" AYYYYYYYYYYYYIIIIII!" she screamed to the water.

The noise was so sudden and loud I yelped in surprised and her voice was so high, I feared hearing loss. After about 30 seconds of her screeching a the open water, she opened her eyes and went to stand by Jeff.

"What the hell?," I blurted.

"Oh," she giggled. "I should explain: I have a friend who is Wailord and I think she can help you cross the ocean. That how I call her when I want to talk or vent, she is kind of my counselor slash mother figure."

Jeff scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Jeff just gets mad because she doesn't approve of him," she looked up to him smiling at his irritation

"As if...," he mumbled unhappily.

"What if she doesn't come?," Jack asks.

"Then we wait," Tracy says happily.

"Hey! Hey guys!," Theresa waved to us, she was walking with Singe towards where we stood. They were walking holding each others paws._ Lucky Chance and I can't do that... but we do link tails. Same thing!_ I glanced to him he was sitting close enough, I casually reached one of my tails over to his. I was careful to place it softly on top of his big fluffy fuzz ball of a tail. He didn't seem to noticed, so I scowled and wrapped my tail around his and tightened. He then perked up and looked behing him, smiled then looked to me. He squeezed back and showed me his teeth with his foolish grin.

"Who are you new mates?" Singe asked.

"They are going to help us cross the ocean, Chance told him.

"Great to meet you."

"Charmed," Jeff retorted.

"Hi," Tracy pranced over to them," I'm Tracy!"

"Singe."

"Theresa."

"Wonderful to meet new faces!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too," Theresa smiled happily.

"She's' here," Jeff announced.

We all looked to the horizon and saw a giant whale immerse from the water sending a giant wave to the shore. She spurted water from her blow hole and quickly made her way to us at the shore. She was huge!

"Waila! Waila, hello!," Tracy jumped excitedly.

"WAILORD!", the ground shook with her mighty voice.

"Waila! Oh, it's so good to see you again!"

"Oh, my little Deerling, it's been too long!"

"Far to long," Tracy was shouting so the massive creature could hear her small voice.

"Besides this chat, do you have reason for your call?"

"Do I need a reason?," Tracy sounded offended.

"Oh, goodness no child! But I do see some new faces here," he eyes darted to where I stood with my friends.

"AH, yes! These are some new friends of mine and Jeff's and we would-"

"JEFF! Where is the boy?"

"Hello, Waila," Jeff yelled to the Wailord.

"No need to scream, boy. I can hear just fine."

"Pardon me," he mumbled.

"Waila! Waila, I need a favor."

"What is my child?"

"I was hoping you could escort my friends here across the ocean!?"

"I haven't carried people in years, my dear!," the Wailord was surprised.

"Oh, Please Waila! Please!," Tracy begged for us.

"Let me meet the children before making a decision. I won't travel with rude people as you know," she shifted in the water to face us, making the ocean ripple. "And you there," the looked at us," make yourself known!"

"Me?," Theresa gulped nervously.

"Yes! You! I haven't met a new Victini in years!," The Wailord was intrigued.

"My name is Theresa!," she was clutching Singe's hand so hard, his face was scrunched with pain." It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Very well... and you," her gaze went to Singe.

"Singe! My name is Singe and I am a Braixen."

"Hmm..," then her eyes fell on me.

"My name is Violet, ma'am."

"Such manners, but I feel far too old with 'ma'am', you may call me Ms. Waila."

"Yes, ma'-..," I saw her look turn stern," Uhmm, Ms. Waila." She smiled and continued on.

"I'm Chance, Ms. Waila."

"Very well."

"Hello, Ms. Waila, my name is Jack and it is indeed a pleasure to meet another friendly Pokémon like these two Deerling."

"Only one of them is really worth mentioning," Ms. Waila mumbled to herself.

"WAILA!," Tracy exclaimed," Please try to be nice to Jeff. We've talked about this! He is my mate for life!"

"I know, dear... I feel like you could do better is all."

"I know you feel this way, but you will grow to love him as much as I do!"

"You've been saying that for year!"

"I have hope for the future," Tracy rested her head on Jeff's puffed chest and he smiled down at her. They were a beautiful couple, complete opposites but still so in sync.

"I will chauffer your new friends to the far side of the sea, it's the least I can do for you, my child," Ms. Waila spoke to Tracy with such a compassion, like she was her own daughter.

"Thank you, Waila! Thank you," Tracy pranced around giddily.

"I will return in the morning, I hope you will all be ready by then?," she asked. "I must go eat."

"Yes, we will. Thank you, Ms. Waila. We will wait patiently for your return," Jack gave her his charming stud smile.

"I shall see you all at dawn," Ms. Waila paddled out to open water and dove back into the ocean, angering the water, sending violent small waves to the shore.

"I can't thank you enough," I turned to Tracy and Jeff," Is there anything we can do to return the favor?"

Tracy's face turned serious and it scared me, she wasn't the serious type," Yes, all of you. Treat Waila with respect. She deserves it, do not do anything that will make me regret this decision."

"Of course, Tracy," Chance bowed his head slightly with respect. "We will treat her as if she was our own mother, respect all the way."

"Thank you," She smiled again and I let out the deep breathe I had been holding in in anticipation. "Would you like to come back to our camp with us?"

"Tracy..," Jeff said in his warning tone again.

"Uhm, no thank you," I said politely, knowing we were not wanted," We need to be here when Ms. Waila comes back."

"Oh, right. I hope we make it back in time to see you off."

"Me too," I smile and she beamed brightly.

"Let's go, Tracy. The chief will be worried," Jeff turned back to the trees.

"Tracy rolled her eyes," Coming," she bounced to her mate's side and they walked back to the tree line and disappeared into the shadows.

"I can't believe it...," I said to myself.

"What? What is it," Chance was worried. "I'm.. I'm GOING TO CROSS THE OCEAN!," I jumped enthusiastically.

chance laughed," Yeah. Tomorrow you will cross the ocean," he looked down.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just, I think you'll back out last minute, Violet," I was ready to defend myself but before I could he continued." Not because you're scared or anything! Because... because there is a very very small possibility that we could ever come back...," his eyes were soft and understanding.

"Oh...," I had never thought of that._ Never come back? Never!? Never see Jade, or Scarlett, mom...or even dad? Never._ It was so final, I got a little antsy.

"I understand if you don't want to go anymore," his eyes started to fill with water.

"No! No! Oh god no! Chance I-I-I I...," I was chocking up. "Chance... I can't live without you!"

His eyes were red from the tear build up, he sniffled," Did you think I would leave you here?"

It hit me then, _He is willing to stay here for me! He would stop traveling... lose his adventure, his best friend, his life -for me._ My eyes began to water at his love for me, _he only wants me to be happy._

"You won't have to," my voice cracked and he looked confused," because tomorrow, together, we are going to ride a Wailord and cross the ocean. Chance, I wouldn't give you up for anything! I wouldn't give up the adventure you give my life, you give my life a sense of purpose. I don't think I'll ever be the same Vulpix I was on Mt. Frolic...," the last part was mostly for myself.

"Violet... never change," his brown honey eyes were so eager and perfect. I leaned in and kissed the boy of my dreams, the Growlithe that completes my life, my other half. He was all I needed from now, he was my life source. I would give up anything to be with him and it was only right because I now knew he would do the same for me.


	26. Chapter 26

_I am riding a Wailord!,_ I thought bubbling with joy._ I AM RIDING A WAILORD! This can't be real! _All around us there was ocean, just water and waves. We left early that morning as Jeff and Tracy watched us depart. I had shed a tear watching my homeland, the only place I had ever known, my home disappear behind the ocean. _Maybe it's better I leave, _I glance over at Chance_, to start a new life._

"So what do you think?!," Theresa spoke, tearing me from my thoughts.

"About what?"

"Uggg," she grunted with frustration," Are you even listening?"

"Uhmm.."

"Ugg. I said, I'm in love with Singe! I want to tell him! I want to tell him when we get across the sea to land, what do you think?"

"Well... if you love someone, you should tell them."

"I know he loves me," Theresa shot her eyes to look at Singe," I know it."

"Then you have nothing to be worried about," I told her.

"I'm not worried," she said," I just want the moment to be perfect!"

Ms. Waila then was hit by a wave that made her rock and everyone grip her blubber to not fall. I held on until she steadied herself again, then we all let go and continued our conversations.

"I wonder...," Theresa mumbled.

"What?," I was curious.

" I want to know if he has had many mates," she stared off into the water.

"Oh.. I bet he has only had one or two," I reassured her.

"I know, but aren't you curious? How many mates has Chance had?!"

I snapped my head up, "Uh..I-I," I cleared my throat," I haven't asked," I slump my head again.

"What?," she whisper yells," Does he know that you are... that you are... pure?"

"No. No, I never said it, but I'm guessing he picked up on it."

"Yeah, I bet. With me, it's different, I've had some partners and I'm sure he has too. I bet he is great, just look at him."

"Theresa!," I laughed.

"What!? I mean, come on!," she laughed. "Soooo... when are you and Chance going to -.."

I cut her off," Theresa! Jeez, I don't know!"

"What!? I'm just saying you want to keep your man satisfied, have you guys done anything?," she looked at me with curious blue eyes.

I turned my face from her, slightly embarrassed," No. We haven't."

"Oh honey... are you nervous?"

"It's no that... well it is a little. What if I'm not good!?"

"Oh Violet! If you're pure, you'll be fine. Just cause you don't know the moves doesn't mean you're bad."

"I just.. I don't know... I don't want to be bad and him be unhappy, you know?"

"Oh yes, I do. All girls go through this before their first time, you're worried and scared about the pain and if all the rumors are true," she chuckled remembering her memories.

"Does it really hurt?," I asked shyly.

Her eyes grew soft" It does, but only for a while, it'll fades. I promise and once you get to the good part, it's all you'll want to do," she laughed. "Especially in spring once you're in heat WHEW," she fanned herself," it's magical."

"We also have no privacy," I confess. "I can barely kiss him without everyone watching us, It's just kills the mood."

"So you have thought about it?," she asks eagerly.

"No, not really. I just.. I don't know. I'm happy he isn't rushing me into it," I smile.

"I know how you feel, half the guys I have dated have wanted to get it on just so they could tell people they hooked up with a Victini. With Singe... it's different, I feel like he wants me for me you know," she dazed off in a dream.

"I do," I looked over to my puffy Growlithe, panting happily watching the waves.

"I think he is the one, Violet," Theresa whispers.

"Singe?"

"Yes! The one in my fortune! Meeting with a loved one for the first time!? Finding love!? I think it's Singe," she giggles uncontrollably.

"Congratulations!," I smiled, G_ood for her._

"Have you talked to Chance any more about his fortune?," She asked carefully.

My eyes shifted downward, " No I haven't..."

"Well, your love has lasted so far! That's good!," she beamed.

"Yeah, it is. I'm just lucky."

"Yes you are! So am I! We are just lucky!," she paused," Violet?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to tell him now..."

"Now? Like now now?," I was shocked.

"Yeah, I mean why not? There is no perfect moment, you know? It'll be perfect just to tell him and hear him say it back. Oh god... now I'm nervous," she started breathing faster.

"Hey, hey it'll be fine," I looked her in the eyes," You have nothing to be scared of."

"What if her rejects me," her eyes watered,"... Like Jack did."

"Singe is not Jack. If what you said is true, then it must be love," I smiled," and besides how could he not want to be with you?!"

She laughed and wiped the tears away," Wish me luck," she turned to walk down Ms. Waila's massive back to Singe.

"Good Luck," I whispered. I then turned back to the endless water that surrounded us; as much as I loved the water it also made me uneasy. _So much! If I fell in, there is no way I would survive._

Carefully, I sauntered to the head of the humongous Pokémon.

"Hello, Ms. Waila!"

"Yes?," she replied.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I can go a few days without a dive, dear. You don't need to worry," she replied.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to inconvenience you!"

"It's a little late for that," she laughed.

I laughed too," How much longer to shore?!"

"Not long, a day or so. I am a very fast swimmer," she bragged.

"I can see that! We are making good time! It's almost noon and I feel like we are almost there!"

"Soon," she replied," We will arrive there soon!"

I thanked her and while walking, I looked to Theresa and Singe who were both facing the ocean with their backs to was leaning on him nd his head rested on hers, _It seems to be going well_, I thought. _I wonder if I should talk to Chance about his...past relationships. That's not too much to ask? If I had any I would tell him! What if he hasn't been with anyone either! Oh, wouldn't that be magical! I can dream... What if he-_

"Hey there, gorgeous," I hear his silky sweet voice, I turn to see him sitting there with his tongue out.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing, you just seemed lonely over here," he confessed and then took his hind leg to scratch behind his ear.

"I'm fine, but actually, I do want to ask you something."

"Sure," he stand up and shakes his fur then sit down again," what is it."

_Oh god! Here it goes..._ "Well, I was juts curious about you and your past," I say slowly.

"Violet," he smirks, "I've told you all about my past."

Oh, OH NO!," my eyes widen," No, no, not that. I really appreciate you telling me but I meant something else.."

"Oh.. what?," he sat looking at me with his adorable puppy dog eyes; they were so big and brown I wanted to cry!

"Uhmmm, well I wanted to ask about... about your, your...your...," I was stumbling over my sentence. _I don't think I can ask!_

"My...?," he edged me along.

"Your... ," I took a deep breath and mumbled," I just want to know about your past...girlfriends."

Chance didn't speak for a long minute and slowly I lifted my head to see him, he didn't look mad, shocked, or sad... just blank. I was scared I had brought back some horrible memory and felt like a complete idiot!

"There isn't much to tell," he said emotionlessly," I have had a few girlfriends here and there, but nothing serious."

"Oh.. I was just curious..," I said quietly. "Will you tell me about them..?"

He sighed and it was loud and low," Uhmm... my first was an Amaura, her name was Mara. She was so bold and witty, I admired her," he chuckled softly," we dated for 6 months and then I left my hometown and traveled. She was angry about me leaving and almost battled me, but I left before anything too serious. yt second was a Growlithe actually."

"Really?," I was a little surprised. Most Pokémon had gotten used to dating outside their own since it was hard to find the opposite gender (unless you lived in a pack or had arranged mating).

"Oh yeah, she was wonderful: sweet , charming, smart and beautiful. Her name was Chaar... her only problem was she was a flirt. She cheated on me constantly but I never gave up until I walked in one them...," he stopped. His eyes were swirling with the memories he was revealing, I was happy but also jealous. _Those bitches! Fuck them! They are fucking bitches for being that way!_ _They were lucky to even get to have him! _

"She was my first love..," he whispered but quickly cleared his throat and continued," then there was my last: Cat. She was a Delcatty and... and, Gosh, Violet can't we just not talk about it!," he was anxious and upset. _Why?_

"Please.. Please tell me."

"It's just... I don't want to upset you," he looked sad and lost. _Why would I be upset! They're exes!_

"Please?"

"I-I was dating Cat when I was caught. I was trying to protect her and I was captured by the Master...," he looked down.

_Oh... oh. If it wasn't for the Master he would still be with Cat. _My eyes watered, "I'm sorry," my voiced cracked.

"Violet... she this is why I din't want to tell you. I new you would be upset," he placed his head on top of mine and drowned me in his thick golden fur.

"Do you still love her?..." I asked into his chest.

He stopped breathing for a second," No. How can I love someone who doesn't even exist to me anymore! I love you, Violet. Only you." He cleared his throat," Hoe about you? any crazy ec boyfriends I should know about?"

I chuckled," Living on an isolated mountain doesn't give me as much time and opportunities ad you may think. I have been single all my life... until now," I smile and step away from him.

"It's a honor to be the first boyfriend of Ms. Violet," he bowed slightly.

"Shut up!," I laugh," Sooo... you gonna tell me which girlfriend you lost yourself to," I teased him.

He shook his head and laughed," If you must know, it was Chaar. We dated for over a year so yeah," he tunred to me," It's just so weird..."

"What?"

"I thought I loved those girls, that they were my soul mates...but none of them have ever made me feel the way you do. They all just seem like stupid crushes that have lead me to this moment in my life, the moment with you. They just are so...insignificant. A day with you seems like a year of memories, lie I've known you forever. It makes me question all my other choices I thought at the time were wise," he laughed.

"So does that mean we're official," I joke.

"Definitely."


	27. The Final Chapter

"LAND HOOE!," Ms. Waila announced, making us all jump and search for the new shore. I was starting to get cabin fever from the lack of nature around us, I wanted to run and chase but it was hard being stuck on the back of a Wailord. The sea was beautiful, but I loved the trees and the mysterious sounds the forest whispered throughout the day.

We all were left speechless by the sight of the shore, it was breath taking. I saw trees, so many beautiful trees and in the distance you could see a new mountain range waiting to be conquered. I was so ready to explore this new world I wanted to jump into the ocean and swim to it myself!

I was grateful we all made it okay across, no one fell in, no one was lost. Although we did have an altercation with some fisherman, Ms. Waila avoided them easily. The only problem was it added time onto our trip, making it four days instead of two and we were all running out of food.

"It's beautiful..," I yearned from the touch of solid ground beneath my paws.

"It sure is," Jack agreed.

"How much farther to The Falls?

"Not far, it should be just beyond those mountains...," he stared at the distant piles of rock impatiently waiting.

The shoreline approached us quickly and we all thanked Ms. Waila for her trouble.

"Goodbye, children and good luck," she dived back into the water and disappeared.

We all stood on the sandy beach looking at the giant tropical trees and hearing the cheerful sounds of wildlife.

"Where are we?," Theresa gaped at the view.

"We're almost home," Jack spoke," Alright, let's go and get some ground in before dusk!"

I was all to happy to walk and actually go somewhere, see new sights and smell new smells; being stuck on Ms. Waila's back made me appreciate my life a little more.

The trail was so beautiful with exotic flowers and new Pokémon I had never seen before. None of them attacked the other, they all lived in happy peace, greating us and then continuing on their way.

I leaned into to Chance," I wish we could just stay here."

"It may seem perfect, Violet but it is far from...," he whispered. "This place is a trainer's dream! The Pokémon here get raided at least once a month by trainers who come and take the innocent. That's why they all live together, for protection; there is safety in numbers."

"Uhm.. right. Let's keep moving."

We found a spot that seemed fairly safe in the middle of the tropical forest where we set up a camp.

"Okay, it's almost sundown, we sleep in shifts," Jack announced.

Shifts? We've never done that before.

"Whyyyy?," Theresa whined.

"Because this is a dangerous place. We need to be alert, I'll take first watch."

I feel asleep quickly, tired from the long day only to be awoken by Chance." What are you doing," I mumbled.

"It's my watch, go to sleep," he replied and then licked my cheek.

I nuzzled back down and enjoyed a long peaceful slumber. I woke up to the sun in my eyes, I rolled over and groaned unhappily.

"Let's go princess," Jack ordered.

I stood up an stretched," Hey, how come I didn't take a shift," I yawned.

"Because you wouldn't wake up, Chance took a double."

_Oh... now I feel shitty._

"Come on, Singe and Chance are scouting ahead and Theresa is trying to find some food, we need to go back and erase our tracks. Divert trainers or hunters."

"Jack... do you think the hunters are still following us?"

He paused and scrunched his face," Yes. I do. See, hunters get paid when they deliver the load they are meant to find. If they don't find m, they don't get paid."

"Why not just go get another Ponyta?"

"I wish I knew, Violet. I wish I knew..."

We erased our previous tracks and then lead them in a different direction before returning to the campsite. Chance and Singe were back from scouting but Theresa was still gone.

"I'm going to look for her," Singe stood up.

"Be careful," I warned him.

"Sometimes, you got to be risky, Bluey," he said before walking through the brush.

"If he is not back in an hour, we go to get them," Jack said

"How do you know they didn't plan it," I laugh. Both of them turn to me confused. "You know? To get some **privacy!** WINK WINK!"

"Oh, ew!," Jack shuttered.

"Gross, Violet!," Chance fake barfed.

"Aww, come on you guys! They're in love, let them be!" A rustle came from the bushes," See... I told you, they're back already!"

"Violet," Chance's voice was cool and calm," Come over here." I stood up and slowly walked to Chance and stood behind him, from the trees came two humans. They had ugly brown cloth around them and were holding giant nets.

One looked angry and started to shout at the other, they argued back in forth.

"What's happening?," I whispered, shaking behind Chance.

"They don't want us, they want bug Pokémon," he explained.

The second human turned to our group and looked at all of us, he turned to his partner and grabbed a pokeball from his bag. _Oh Shit! Fuck this! NO!_

The other human got pokeball to and cast them infront of us, they popped open revealing a Scizor and a small blue worm like Pokémon with pincers.

"Chance...," I was ready to piss myself.

"They want a double battle," he explained.

"No! Not, don't do it! Please!?," I begged.

"Who else will do it? You?," he joked.

_Me? YES! ME! I need to do! I have to, I need to fight! _"YES!," I agree.

"What?.. No. Absolutely not. No, no way!," he vetoed the option.

"Jack back me up here!," I turned to Jack.

"No fucking way," Jack sputtered. I was taken back by his curse, Jack rarely cursed.

"But...," I tried again.

"Violet, no. It's not gonna happen. I love you, stay here," he then turned to face the Pokémon and their trainers. Jack stood beside him in battle stance, facing the small blue worm while Chance was across from the Scizor.

_Oh hell no! I'm not some pampered poodle you can stick in the corner and give a treat to! I have the right to battle! I need it more than anyone!_, I had convinced myself.

The trainer had called to his Scizor to attack with **Fury Cutter** which Chace dodged easily. The other trainer was about the command his worm to do something when I pushed passed Jack and stood in front of him. The trainer and Jack were both stunned and while they stood there mouth open, I took my shot using **Fire Spin.**

It took the worm by surprise, he didn't have time to dodge the attack and was eloped in flames. The bug was damaged but remained on his feet, he growled at me and I smirked at him.

"What the Fuck Violet!?," Jack was raging behind me.

"Looks like this is my fight," I glance over my shoulder, " Now go stand over there."

"VIOLE-," he began to say but was to late to warn me. I felt an extreme pain in my front right leg and looked down to see blood. _THAT LITTLE FUCKER! HE BIT ME! _I could feel my energy draining but I didn't let it show, I stood tall and grinned at the little worm," Is that the best you got?"

He turned purple in the face from rage but he couldn't do anything, he needed to wait for his master's command. Chance attacked the Scizor with **Heat Wave **which burned the steel bug pretty badly.

"Good shot babe," I told Chance.

"You are not off the hook yet," he spoke out of the side of his mouth.

The Scizor retaliated with **Metal Claw **striking Chance and having him crash into the dirt. Chance struggled to stand but he did, knees wobbling slightly

I turned to my blue worm and made my eyes bug and fluttered the lashes flirtatiously sending my **Baby-Doll Eyes** at him. He looked weaker than before but I wasn't sure. The human bellowed to his worm and he then he closed his eyes and used **Acupressure** on himself, raising one of his talents.

"VIOLET, HE RAISED HIS DEFENSE!," Jack yelled from behind me. _Shit! DEFENSE!_

It was Chance's turn he closed his eyes and I felt myself grow with power and feel stronger while he looked weaker. _NO! CHANCE NO!_ (**Helping Hand**)

The owner of the Scizor told him to use **Metal Claw** again and hit did. It hit Chance directly in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He lay there unmoving with rapid shallow breaths, _GET UP CHANCE! GET UP!_

I couldn't dwell because it was my turn, I wasted no time and set out another **Fire spin. **_Bugs are weak to fire! Please work! Please work! _The worm fell after the flames cleared and his eyes turned to X's, _A KNOCKOUT! WOW! I KNOCKED HIM OUT! WHEWW GO ME! _I could feel my power surge, my victory had caused my HP to rise.

The trainer recalled his Pokémon and turned to his friend. I looked to Chance who was unmoving and ran to his side. The Scizor's trainer pulled out a new pokeball, _OH HELL NO!_

I stood protecting him, covering his body with mine and released another **Fire Spin** to warn them and turned to look at Chance whose eyes were shut," Chance?"

.The Scizor used **Slash** and I felt it hit my back with excruciating pain. I knew that if Chance wouldn't have used **Helping Hand**, I would be knocked out right now. I bit my lip to stop from crying out and turned to the Scizor and I was pissed. I felt the energy inside me building up, my rage was explosive. I opened my mouth and set the most powerful Fire Spin I have ever done in my life out towards the Scizor and didn't let go. The attack went on for about 30 seconds before I felt like I might pass out, by then the Scizor was knocked unconscious and the trainer returned him to his ball.

Even though he had lost, the trainer was smiling at me. I could barely see, my lids were so heavy that they started to close. The last thing I heard before darkness was Jack calling my name.


End file.
